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US trade gap widens for first time since July
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US trade gap widens for first time since July
AFP - Wednesday, May 13
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The US trade deficit increased in March for the first time in seven months as exports sank to a 2004 low amid the global economic crisis crippling trade, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday.
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The March trade gap rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 27.6 billion dollars, from a revised 26.1 billion in February.
That was narrower than analysts' consensus forecast of 29.0 billion dollars.
Imports fell for the seventh month in a row, to 151.2 billion dollars, the lowest level since August 2006, the Commerce Department reported.
Exports, which had increased in February, fell to 123.6 billion dollars in March, a level last seen in September 2004.
A higher imported oil bill and a sharp jump in the huge and politically sensitive trade gap with China factored into the gap increase.
Separately, the government announced that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would make his first official visit to China for talks June 1-2.
The issues to be discussed would include "strengthening US-China economic ties to promote stable, balanced and sustained economic growth in the two nations."
On an annual basis, the March trade deficit was down a steep 52 percent after falling in February to a 1999 low.
Overall, US trade volume with the rest of the world declined by 1.6 percent in March from February.
"Given the weak state of overseas economies, we do not expect the US recovery to be export-led," said Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight.
"As US recovery does begin to take hold it will mean an increase in imports as US demand recovers. As a result, the trade deficit will likely widen later this year," Gault said.
Elsa Dargent at Natixis projected the April gap would widen under the effects of President Barack Obama's massive 787-billion-dollar stimulus package enacted in February.
The program of tax cuts and infrastructure spending aims at kick-starting the world's largest economy out of a severe recession that began in December 2007.
"We expect the widening of the trade deficit to continue in the month ahead as exports will adjust markedly downward and imports may recover," Dargent said, partly due to "the impact of the fiscal stimulus."
According to the data, oil imports rose in March after five straight months of decline, to 14.1 billion dollars in March from 13.7 billion in February.
The average price of imported crude oil leapt to 41.36 dollars in March from 39.22 dollars in the prior month, the first price rise after five months of decline.
The decline in imports was uneven, not broad-based as was the case in recent months. Consumer goods rose 0.8 percent, autos and auto parts gained 0.2 percent, and food increased 0.5 percent.
By contrast, industrial supplies and materials dropped 2.0 percent and capital goods, materials used to make finished products, fell 1.7 percent.
The goods trade deficit with Canada, the largest US trade partner, plunged to 830 million dollars, from 1.9 billion in February, according to seasonally unadjusted data. That was its lowest level since March 1998.
The gap with China, the number-two US partner, jumped to 15.6 billion dollars in March from 14.2 billion in the prior month.
Critics in the US accuse China of keeping its yuan currency artificially low. Before taking office in late January, Geithner caused a stir when he said during his confirmation hearings that China is "manipulating" its currency to gain a trade advantage.
He later toned down those remarks as US officials pledged to work closely with China to combat the economic crisis.
The trade gap with Mexico rose to 3.9 billion dollars from 3.1 billion and that with Japan to 2.6 billion from 2.2 billion.
With the 16-nation eurozone, the deficit nearly doubled, to 4.5 billion dollars from 2.4 billion.
Ian Shepherdson at High Frequency Economics said the report could lead to an upward revision of US economic output.
The government initially estimated gross domestic product (GDP) shrank at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter, after contracting by 6.3 percent in the prior quarter.
"These data are better than assumed in the advance first-quarter GDP report; we estimate the data are enough to generate a revision (upward) of 0.2 percentage points to headline growth," he said.
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Cargo ships unload their shipping containers at the Port of Miami in January 2009. The US trade deficit increased slightly in March after seven consecutive months of decline, as US exports fell to a 2004 low amid the global economic crisis, Commerce Department data showed.
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