US trade gap widens to USD 45.7 billion in January

The US trade deficit rose in January as American exports fell for a fourth straight month, the Commerce Department said today.
The gap between exports and imports climbed to USD 45.7 billion in January from a revised USD 44.7 billion in December.
Exports of goods and services fell 2.1 per cent in January to USD 176.5 billion, lowest since June 2011. Exports of industrial equipment and supplies were down.
American exporters have been hurt by weakness around the world and by a strong dollar that makes US products more expensive overseas.
The high dollar should be helping imports by making them cheaper in America. But imports slid 1.3 per cent USD 222.1 billion in January, lowest since April 2011.

Lower oil prices explain part of the drop. Petroleum imports of USD 11.2 billion were the lowest since November 2003. But January imports of autos and auto parts hit a record USD 30.6 billion.
The deficit in the trade of goods with China rose to USD 31.1 billion in January from USD 29.7 billion. The goods gap with the European Union dropped to USD 12.6 billion from USD 13.3 billion in December.
Increasing trade deficits drag down US gross domestic product the broadest measure of economic output. Last year, the gap between exports and imports shaved more than 0.6 percentage points off annual GDP growth of 2.4 per cent.