The trade deficit fell sharply in March to $49.0 billion with the
Chinese deficit, amid all the talk of trade war, narrowing sharply to
$25.9 billion from February's $29.3 billion. Import tariffs on steel and
aluminum were imposed late in the month but they didn't stem steel
imports which rose to $2.8 billion compared to $2.2 billion in February.
March's
results are actually very positive. Exports rose 2.0 percent in the
month to $208.5 billion at the same time that imports fell 1.8 percent
to $257.5 billion. Goods exports, led by capital goods and including a
gain for food products, climbed 2.7 percent to $140.9 billion with
service exports up 0.6 percent to a very solid $67.7 billion.
Conclusions
have to be taken cautiously since many of the details, including the
country deficit which China, are unlike the headline and not adjusted
for seasonal and calendar issues. But trends may begin to appear in the
months ahead with the outlook hinting at a narrowing with China with
metal imports eventually to come down.
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