NEW YORK: The U.S. trade deficit jumped sharply in August as exports fell to the lowest level in nearly three years while imports increased, led by a surge in shipments of cellphones from China.
The deficit grew 15.6 percent to $48.3 billion, the biggest deficit since March, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Exports of goods and services dropped 2 percent to $185.1 billion, the lowest level since October 2012, while imports rose 1.2 percent to $233.4 billion.
Exports have been hurt this year by the rising value of the dollar, which makes U.S. goods less competitive on overseas markets, and by weaker economic growth in China and other major export markets. Economists say they expect that these trends will combine to push the deficit higher and make trade a drag on overall growth this year.
So far this year, the trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $531.6 billion, 4.6 percent higher than last year’s deficit of $508.3 billion.
Canada, the United States’ largest trading partner, is in a recession, and China, the world’s second-largest economy, is growing much more slowly; meanwhile, many emerging market economies are being battered by a plunge in commodity prices.
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