US trade gap grows 7% on strong dollar
Print Edition
THE United States’ trade deficit rose in June as solid consumer spending pulled in more imports and a strong dollar curbed exports, the US Commerce Department said yesterday.
The trade gap jumped 7 percent from May to US$43.8 billion, as imports rose 1.2 percent to US$232.4 billion and exports lost about US$100 million to US$188.6 billion.
US manufacturers have been held back this year by the strong dollar. Exports in June of large capital equipment fell 1.7 percent, while imports of food, car parts and consumer goods surged.
Even so, the deficit narrowed in the second quarter compared with the first, boosting the economy.
Trade has been volatile this year. Labor disputes at West Coast ports in the first quarter delayed imports and the shipment of US goods overseas. That lowered exports and pushed the deficit to a three-year high of US$50.6 billion in March.
“The current level of ... goods exports remains far below trend and we have yet to see a decisive rebound,” said Laura Rosner, an economist at French bank BNP Paribas.
Foreign trade fell by about 2 percentage points from growth in the January-March quarter, when the economy rose 0.6 percent year on year. It then added 0.1 percentage points in the April-June quarter, when growth accelerated to 2.3 percent.
The dollar has risen about 14 percent in value against foreign currencies in the past year.
The US trade gap with China in June narrowed to US$28.9 billion from US$30.6 billion in May, but remained the largest with any country.
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