The U.S. Commerce Department released the trade data on Wednesday. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.44 billion in March from a deficit of $46.96 billion in February. It was the smallest gap since February 2015.

February's figure was revised up from a deficit of $47.06 billion.

Analysts had expected a trade deficit of $41.5 billion.

The decline of a deficit was driven by a drop in imports. Exports decreased by 0.9% in March, while imports slid by 3.6%, the largest fall since February 2009.