NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The trade deficit fell in July despite a sharp rise in the value of oil imports, the government said Tuesday -- a surprise decline that economists said probably wouldn't last.

The nation imported $57.9 billion more in goods than it exported in July, the fifth-highest deficit on record, down from a revised $59.5 billion in June, the Commerce Department reported. Economists had expected the gap to widen slightly to $59.8 billion.

Yet economists urged caution, noting that oil prices have surged since July and that the nation will soon be importing more gasoline in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which knocked out several big refineries When it hit the Gulf Coast Aug. 29.

"We've got some good news in this report but it's likely to be short-lived," said Drew Matus, a senior economist at Lehman Brothers. "We can expect the large trade deficits we've come to know to continue for the rest of the year."

The value of petroleum imports reached a record $20.7 billion in July, up from $19.8 billion in June, and pushing the value of petroleum imports over the $20 billion mark for the first time.

The price of oil soared 10 percent in July from the prior month.

Overall, the United States exported $106.2 billion worth of goods and services in July, a record, up from a revised $105.8 in June.

At the same time imports fell to $164.2 billion from a revised $165.3 billion in June.

The rise in exports got a boost from strength in autos and the industrial sector while consumer goods accounted for most of the drop in imports, the department reported.

The trade gap with China -- the biggest the U.S. runs with any single nation by far -- edged up to $17.65 billion in July from $17.59 billion in June.

The dollar edged higher after the report as traders bet the lower deficit would take some pressure off the U.S. currency.

A lower dollar makes U.S. exports more competitive overseas.

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