GLOBAL CAPITAL & INVESTMENT FLOWS · SEPTEMBER 26, 2026
U.S. Current-Account Deficit Widens as Cross-Border Assets and Liabilities Rise
BEA reported a $246.0 billion second-quarter current-account deficit and a negative $22.42 trillion net international investment position, as both U.S. foreign assets and liabilities increased.
What BEA released on September 24
Source publication date: September 24, 2026. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. current-account deficit widened by $33.4 billion, or 15.7%, to $246.0 billion in the second quarter. The deficit equaled 3.0% of current-dollar GDP, up from 2.7% in the first quarter. BEA attributed the widening to a larger goods deficit, partly offset by smaller deficits in primary income and secondary income.
- 01Deficit widened 15.7%
- 02Net financial borrowing was $369.7B
- 03Net investment position was −$22.42T
Both outward receipts and payments increased
Exports of goods and services plus income received from foreign residents increased $58.8 billion to $1.44 trillion. Imports of goods and services plus income paid to foreign residents increased $92.2 billion to $1.69 trillion. Net financial-account transactions were negative $369.7 billion, reflecting net U.S. borrowing from foreign residents. Aggregate quarterly flows can be revised and do not describe the contract economics of a particular importer, exporter, investor, or borrower.
The net international investment position became more negative
At quarter-end, U.S. residents' foreign financial assets totaled $46.97 trillion and U.S. liabilities to foreign residents totaled $69.39 trillion, producing a negative net international investment position of $22.42 trillion versus negative $21.27 trillion at the end of the first quarter. Price changes drove most of the quarter's increase in both assets and liabilities. The position is a broad balance-sheet measure, not a prediction of exchange rates, interest rates, or capital availability.
Practical borrower and investor takeaway
Map revenue, costs, receivables, payables, debt service, investments, and collateral by currency, country, counterparty, and maturity. Test exchange-rate changes, tariffs, settlement delays, withholding and tax treatment, repatriation, refinancing, and customer or supplier concentration. Confirm whether contracts pass through currency or import-cost changes and whether any hedge matches the exposure. Use BEA's totals as context while underwriting from transaction-level cash flows, documents, and qualified legal, tax, and treasury advice.
Cross-border borrowers and investors should match debt, cash flow, currency, jurisdiction, tax, and liquidity exposures instead of treating national capital-flow totals as a directional forecast.
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