WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit in March ballooned to the highest level in more than six years, propelled by a flood of imports from autos to cellphones.

The deficit rose to $51.4 billion, the largest trade gap since October 2008 and more than 43 percent higher than in February, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Exports were up 0.9 percent to $187.8 billion, while imports increased 7.7 percent to $239.2 billion. The trade deficit is the short-fall between exports and imports.

The result suggests that international trade played a major role in the U.S. economy’s anemic growth in the first quarter. It could even force the government to further revise down its gross domestic product estimate for the period, possibly into negative territory.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the massive trade deficit means the U.S. economy “undoubtedly contracted slightly in the first quarter.” He estimates GDP in the January-March period actually fell 0.3 percent instead of the 0.2 percent growth the government reported last week.

However, he notes that the surge in imports stems largely from the resolution in February of a labor dispute at West Coast ports, which worked to clear their backlogs in March.