U.S. trade deficit fell to 52.5 billion U.S. dollars in September, down 2.6 billion dollars, or 4.7 percent from the August reading, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a report Tuesday.

U.S. exports in September dropped to 206.0 billion dollars, down 1.8 billion dollars, or 0.9 percent from previous month, while imports shrank to 258.4 billion dollars, down 4.4 billion dollars, or 1.7 percent from August, the department said.

The September decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decline in the goods deficit of 2.7 billion dollars to 71.7 billion dollars and a drop in the services surplus of 0.1 billion dollars to 19.3 billion dollars, the report showed.

Despite the Trump administration's efforts to reduce deficit with its trading partners, U.S. goods and services deficit increased 24.8 billion dollars, or 5.4 percent year-to-date, from the same period in 2018, according to the report. Exports slid 7.0 billion dollars or 0.4 percent, while imports increased 17.8 billion dollars or 0.8 percent.

In September, the deficit with China fell 0.9 billion dollars, or 3.1 percent, to 28.0 billion dollars. Exports decreased 1.0 billion to 9.0 billion dollars and imports declined 1.9 billion to 37.0 billion dollars.

By country and region, the United States boasts the largest surplus with South and Central America (5 billion dollars), the report showed. It also continues to run deficits with the European Union (15.7 billion dollars), Mexico (9.1 billion dollars), Japan (5.9 billion dollars) and Germany (5 billion dollars), among others.

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