The report showed a 4.4 per cent decline in the trade balance from the revised August deficit of US$59.1 billion. The deficit was narrower than the US$47 billion expected by private forecasters.

But the improvement came amid steep drops in both imports and exports, signs of weakening economic conditions both in the US and its trading partners.

Imports showed the steepest drop on record of 5.6 per cent to US$211.9 billion while exports fell by the biggest amount since Sept 2001, a drop of 6.1 per cent to US$155.4 billion. -- AFP