US trade deficit in August hits record high since 2006
Official data show that the US trade deficit continued to climb in August, reaching the record high of more than 67 billion dollars in 14 years.
The US Commerce Department said in a report published on Tuesday that the trade deficit in August rose 5.9 percent from July to $67.1 billion — the highest monthly level since 2006 — as imports outpaced exports amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Department warned that, "Exports and imports in August reflect both the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued recovery from the sharp declines earlier this year."
Exports remain 17.6 percent below the same period in 2019, and imports are down 13.1 percent, the report said, adding that industrial supplies and materials were among the most-exported products, increasing $3.9 billion.
The data also found that services exports saw only scant gains led by other business services, while travel decreased.
Moreover, consumer goods accounted for over half of the increase in imports, with pharmaceutical preparations increasing $2.7 billion.
The report comes as US President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to bring down America’s persistent trade deficits by imposing taxes on imports of steel, aluminum and most products from China, among other things.
Trump also renegotiated a North American trade pact in an effort to encourage more production in the US.
The US president has come under sharp criticism for his inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed more than 215,000 people in the United States alone.
Trump, who had been downplaying the deadly virus since it erupted in the US in late February, contracted the coronovirus along with his wife last week.
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