The British “Financial Times” reported in its Friday edition that the monthly trade deficit of the United States reached its highest level since 2008 last July;
In a blow to President Donald Trump’s pledge during his 2016 election campaign, the country continued to import more than it exported to reduce that number.
According to data, the newspaper revealed (in the context of a report published on its website in this regard) that the US trade deficit in goods and services grew by 18.9% every month to $ 63.6 billion, the highest level since July 2008 released by the US government. The country’s goods deficit of $ 80.9 billion was the highest on record.
However, the newspaper clarified that the United States’ international trade increased in general, as exports grew by more than 8%, while imports increased by 10.9%, indicating that global economies have begun to recover from the crisis imposed by the outbreak of the new Coronavirus (Covid-19).
But overall business activity remains below pre-coronavirus levels, with Oxford Economics forecasting a record 14% decline in business activity during 2020.
In this, the “Financial Times” recalled Trump’s electoral pledges in 2016 to reduce the US trade deficit, which represents the gap between imports and exports, in an attempt to bring back manufacturing to the United States from countries such as China and Mexico. During his nearly expired the first term, Trump embarked on renegotiating US trade relations with allies like Canada, Mexico, and the European Union and engaging in a volatile trade battle with China.
The American newspaper added that the July figures revealed that Mexico’s US trade deficit was at a record high monthly level. The US imported $ 10.6 billion in more goods than it exported. However, during the second quarter of 2020, the combined deficit of goods and services for the United States decreased by $ 13 billion to $ 15 billion.
The new numbers also show a growing trade deficit with China, despite Trump’s pledges to reduce that number.
During the second quarter of 2020, US government figures showed that the deficit with China increased from $ 21.4 billion to $ 75.8 billion … as explained by the newspaper, which recently referred to Trump’s campaign in 2016 regarding adopting a stricter trade approach with China and ultimately compelling him. To conclude, a limited trade deal with Beijing to end the trade war between the two countries.
