US trade deficit hits a record in June
The Commerce Department stated that continued strong growth in imports and a drop in exports caused US trade deficit to widen in June. The trade gap increased by 19.1% to $55.8 billion. Wall Street economists had expected the gap to widen, but had predicted a gap of just $46.9 billion. Economists said the growing deficit was likely to force the government to revise downwards its forecast of 3% economic growth in the second quarter. US exports declined by 4.3% to $92.8 billion in June. This was the largest monthly fall recorded since September 2001. Imports rose by 3% to $148.6 billion, partly reflecting the steady rise in crude oil prices. The US trade deficit with China widened to $14.2 billion in June. However, this is not the only reason of US trade gap. The US also reported record deficits with its largest trading partners-Mexico and Canada- and with OPEC and the South/Central American region in the mentioned period.