The U.S. Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that the U.S. trade deficit enlarged to 78.3 billion U.S. dollars in July, up from the revised 59.1 billion dollars in June, and higher than economists' forecast of 77.9 billion dollars.

The U.S. trade deficit widened in July to a four-month high as companies raced to import goods and materials before U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs on global trading partners, local media reported Thursday.

A sharp increase in non-monetary gold shipments, partly in anticipation of new tariffs, has also contributed to the overall rise in imports.

To be specific, U.S. imports in July rose by 5.9 percent to 358.8 billion dollars, while exports increased by 0.3 percent to 280.5 billion dollars.

U.S. goods trade deficit increased by 18.2 billion dollars to 103.9 billion dollars in July, while services surplus decreased by 1.1 billion dollars to 25.6 billion dollars.