The Commerce Department issued a statement on Friday saying that the trade gap narrowed 9.9 percent to $36.4 billion, the smallest since February 2015. August's trade deficit was revised down to $40.5 billion.
Exports, which have risen 0.6% to $189.2 billion is September, were boosted by shipments of industrial supplies and materials as well as consumer goods. The exports of soybeans fell in September.
Exports to the EU, the UK and China all rose, whereas imports dropped 13% in September to $225.6 billion.
Imports from China dropped by 2.8 percent. The politically sensitive U.S.-China trade deficit dropped 4.1 percent to $32.5 billion in September.http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/us-trade-deficit-hits-1-12-year-low-on-rising-exports.html
This is good. An initiative toward a trade surplus means we have more economic power to dictate trade. Only question is whether we'll always be a country that imports more than we export.
ReplyDeleteGiven our history, is there a decreased level of trade deficit, or even trade surplus level that could be sustainable for our economy? Also given that we produce mostly services, rather than goods is it even possible for the US to move to a trade surplus?
ReplyDeleteNow that the new elections of 2016 have been done, it would be interesting to see what the effect would be on the trade deficit. A new presidency can really effect the way trades are being done between countries.
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