COMMERCE/FOREIGN POLICY/TRADE DEALS: “The foreign-trade deficit widened in January for the fifth straight month and hit its largest level in over nine years, as exports weakened in the first month of 2018.
The U.S. trade gap in goods and services expanded 5.0% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $56.60 billion in January, the Commerce Department said Wednesday [3-7-18]. That was a fresh postrecession record; the monthly trade deficit was last larger in October 2008.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had projected a January trade deficit of $55.0 billion.
Imports were unchanged from December, with a rise in petroleum imports offset by declines in other categories. Exports fell 1.3% in January, including reduced shipments of capital goods and industrial supplies.
Excluding services, the U.S. trade gap for goods in January was the largest since July 2008…
President Donald Trump has long argued the U.S. should reduce its trade deficit, and last week announced plans to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum to bolster domestic production of those metals.”
-Ben Leubsdorf and Josh Mitchell, “U.S. Trade Deficit Widened Again in January,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 7, 2018 08:34am