According to the Commerce Department, the November deficit was 19.3% greater than that of October at $67.2 billion. It was also just below September’s all-time monthly record of 81.4 billion.
November imports, which are goods Americans purchased from other countries in November, rose 4.4% to $304.4 billion, while exports, which the U.S. sends abroad, increased a mere 0.2% to $224.2 trillion.
The U.S. trade deficit for the first 11 months in 2021 is 28.6% greater than it was during the same period last Year. This is due to the United States’ economic recovery outpacing other countries and Americans’ willingness to spend.
The U.S. trade deficit for 2020 was $676.7 billion. This is 0.1% more than the 2019 figure.
The China trade deficit in goods, which is politically sensitive, rose 2.9% to $32.3 million in November. It has increased 12.8% in the first 11 months of the year when compared to the same period in 2020.
China and the United States, two of the largest economies in the world, were embroiled in a trade war under former President Donald Trump. Trump accused China of unfair trade practices, which had resulted in millions of American jobs being lost. Each country placed tit-for–tat punitive tariffs upon its economic competitor.
The Biden administration has been more cautious in its economic relations with China so far.
Michael Pierce, senior U.S. economist, stated that the sharp rise in November’s deficit in trade means that trade will not have a significant impact on the U.S. economy during the October-December quarter.
Pierce predicted that growth as measured by gross domestic product would be about 4.5% in fourth quarter. This is an improvement on the 2.3% in third quarter, but still below the expectations for much higher growth prior to the omicron variant.
Others economists are more optimistic and predict growth of between 6% to 7% for the October-December period. On Jan. 27, the government will publish its first glimpse at fourth quarter GDP.
