02-13-2005, 07:36 AM
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 | Guru | | Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,346
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| US Trade deficit hits all-time high!
Quote:
The U.S. trade deficit ballooned to an all-time high of $617.7 billion last year, pushed by soaring oil prices and Americans' insatiable appetite for everything foreign, from cars to toys and food.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the 2004 imbalance rose 24.4 percent from the previous year and marked the third year in a row that the deficit had set a record. The imbalance with China swelled by 30.5 percent to $162 billion, the highest ever with any country.
For December, the deficit actually shrank. But at $56.4 billion, it still was the second worst monthly showing ever, down 4.9 percent from $59.3 billion in November.
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For all of 2004, U.S. exports of goods and services rose 12.3 percent to $1.15 trillion. But imports rose at an even faster clip of 16.3 percent, setting a record of $1.76 trillion.
The demand for foreign goods was led by a 35.7 percent surge in foreign petroleum imports, which climbed to a record $180.7 billion. The increase reflected not only higher demand but also surging prices. For the whole year, the average per barrel price for imported crude was $34.47, compared with $26.98 in 2003.
Imports of foreign autos, industrial supplies and consumer goods all set records. So did imports of food products, which climbed to $62.17 billion.
U.S. exports of food products reached a record $56.3 billion. But because U.S. shipments abroad were lower than imports, the country recorded a $5.9 billion deficit in food. It was the third straight annual deficit in agriculture, which had been an important source for helping narrow the deficit in manufactured goods.
U.S. exports did climb to an all-time high. Shipments of U.S. food, autos and consumer goods set records, helped by a 15 percent decline in the value of the dollar over the past three years. A weaker dollar makes U.S. products cheaper and thus more competitive on overseas markets.
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