New York, April 7, 2021 (AFP) – The United States’ trade deficit reached a record high of $ 71.1 billion in February, where the US economy improved faster than the competitive economy, with imports declining more. .
With a decrease of 4.8% in relation to the previous month, exports increased by 2.6% to US $ 187.3 billion, higher than imports, which stood at US $ 258.3 billion (- 0.7%).
Oren Klachkin, an economist at Oxford Economics, commented that “America’s growth has increased trade deficits to record levels” compared to the rest of the world “and heat”.
In February, the increase in the trade deficit was higher than analysts were expecting for US $ 70.5 billion.
“Improving health conditions, reopening the economy and budgetary expenditure will boost domestic demand and strong pressure on imports”, while exports, relying on the slow recovery of the economy in the rest of the world, will be less strong added Oren Klachkin .
For goods and geographic region only, the trade deficit with China increased by about 10% in a month. On the other hand, it fell dramatically to 42% with Mexico and 5% with the European Union.
While the Kovid-19 epidemic severely affects economies around the world, some, including the United States, are much better than others.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised its growth projections for the United States, 6.4% (+1.3 points) for 2021 and 3.5% for 2022 (+1 points), making it the “only large economy”. Forecasted GDP in 2022 would surpass the prediction made before the epidemic.
The country owes its salvation to the adoption of several large economic stimulus schemes and may still benefit from an ambitious infrastructure plan, which President Joe Biden has outlined in recent times.
US economic data has been positive for several weeks. Service activity reached an all-time high in March and job creation registered its highest pace in a single month since August 2020, with 916,000 jobs created.
But in the meantime, and in the short-term, foreign trade, “strained supply chains and divergent growth models” will appear in the data, predicts HFE chief economist Rubella Farooqui for the United States.
By extension, the trade deficit for goods increased to $ 88 billion from 85.2 billion in February a month ago, while the surplus of services increased to 16.9 billion from 17.4 billion a month earlier.
