Keystone-SDA
The United States trade deficit started to rise again in November due to a greater increase in imports than exports, according to data published Tuesday by the Commerce Department.
This content was published on
January 7, 2025 – 3:10 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) The deficit in trade in goods and services with the rest of the world rose in November to 78.2 billion dollars, up 6.2% compared to the month of October, for which the data was slightly revised upwards.
The increase is slightly stronger than expected, since analysts were expecting a deficit of $77.9 billion, according to the consensus published by briefing.com.
Over one year, the American trade deficit also increased by 13% in November, or 93.9 billion more, the Department of Commerce also specified, due, again, to a much more marked increase in imports than in exports, in value.
In November, exports were up 2.7%, or $7.1 billion more than the previous month.
The increase in the deficit concerns goods in particular, while services, on the contrary, remain in surplus, of almost a billion dollars.
In detail, exports of goods particularly concerned raw materials and petroleum products, as well as automobile parts and pharmaceutical products.
Conversely, imports were mainly focused on energy, purchases of semiconductors and civil aircraft, as well as food products and motor vehicle parts.
The geographical distribution of the trade deficit, for goods, remains generally unchanged, the largest still remaining linked to trade with China, at 25.4 billion dollars, down however compared to the month of October.
The European Union remains in second position, with an American trade deficit of $20.5 billion, also down over one month, and is still focused on the same five countries: Germany, France, with whom the deficit increased, Ireland and Italy. The surplus is still widening in trade with the Netherlands.
Finally, the deficits with Mexico and Vietnam still remain the largest, outside China and the EU, and are also increasing from one month to the next.
