By Harriet Torry

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. trade deficit likely widened in April during a sharp contraction in global commerce caused by lockdowns associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

The deficit in trade of goods and services likely came to $50 billion in April, compared with a deficit of $44.4 billion the month before, according to the median forecast in a survey of economists before Thursday's report from the Commerce Department.

Many economists and business executives expect that, barring a second wave of infection, global commerce will begin to revive as social-distancing restrictions are eased and consumer demand picks up.

"Much of the disruption may have already occurred," Angeliki Frangou, chief executive of container ship operator Navios Maritime Containers LP, said on an earnings call last month. "As countries emerge from quarantine and return to work, we expect volumes to pick up, particularly in the second half of 2020."

In the first quarter, a narrowing trade deficit helped to limit a sharp contraction in the U.S. economy. As a whole, the economy still shrank at a 5% annual rate, the steepest drop since the recession in 2007-09. Trade may subtract from gross domestic product this quarter should the deficit widen.

Lockdowns associated with the pandemic, which originated in China late last year, have sapped global commerce and growth, disrupted supply chains and closed factories and stores.

The International Monetary Fund said in April that it expected the U.S. economy would shrink 5.9% this year. It predicted the global economy would contract 3% in 2020. China's growth would slow to 1.2% this year, the IMF projected, from 6.1% last year.

Global trade, already experiencing its weakest activity since the financial crisis because of the two-year U.S.-China trade conflict, is likely to contract by 11% in 2020, the IMF said, a collapse that would make it difficult for countries to revive their economies by increasing exports.

Tensions between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, have escalated in recent weeks over Beijing's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's decision to downgrade relations with Hong Kong after China moved to subject the territory to a national security law.

The Trump administration threatened Wednesday to bar mainland Chinese airlines from flying to and from the U.S. starting June 16.

Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com