Meanwhile, the strong US dollar fueled American imports of consumer items like mobile telephones as well as semiconductors and industrial equipment, according to the Commerce Department data.
As a result, the US trade balance crept 1.6 percent higher to $54.9 billion for the month, surpassing economists' expectations.
Imports increased 0.5 percent, while exports rose 0.2 percent, rising more slowly than in July.
The deficit is up more than 7 percent in the first eight months of the year over the same period of 2018.
The August figures also showed a deepening decline in goods exchanged with China, Mexico and the European Union. But the general trend this year of imports from Mexico rising while Chinese imports steadily recede, continued uninterrupted. So far in 2019, the US goods deficit with Mexico has surged 30.6 percent but with China it has declined 11.7 percent with China.