Free Trial

MNI DATA IMPACT: US January Trade Gap Narrowed To $51.1b>

By Kevin Kastner, Shikha Dave and Harrison Clarke
     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The U.S. international trade gap narrowed to 
$51.1 billion in January from a slightly revised $59.9 billion in 
December, a much smaller gap than the $57.0 billion deficit expected by 
the Bloomberg consensus and a $57.5 billion gap expected by an MNI 
survey, data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning 
showed. 
     The December gap was the widest since 2008, so the narrower January 
gap is simply a return to a more normal level. Seasonal adjustment was a 
factor in December's widening, and the reverse occurred in January, with 
seasonal factors turning an unadjusted widening into a narrower gap. 
Here are the key findings from the release:
     - Imports fell sharply on declines in capital goods and 
industrial supplies, the latter led by a sharp decline in crude oil 
imports. The unadjusted barrel price of crude oil was the lowest in over 
two years, continuing the downward trend in recent months.
     - Exports rebounded from a December dip, led by foods and feed, 
autos and consumer goods.
     - The unadjusted goods trade gap actually widened in January to 
$76.3 billion from $73.8 billion in December, so seasonal adjustment 
factors accounted for the seasonally adjusted narrowing.
     - The overall BOP goods gap narrowed to $73.3 billion from $81.5 
billion in December, while the services surplus widened to $22.1 
billion. The petroleum gap narrowed to $0.9 billion in January from $1.2 
billion in December, while the nonpetroleum goods gap narrowed to $71.2 
billion from $79.1 billion. 
     - The unadjusted bilateral trade gaps narrowed with all the major 
trading partners. The gap with China narrowed to $34.5 billion in 
January from $36.8 billion in December. At the same time, the gap with 
the EU narrowed to $11.7 billion from $15.1 billion. The gap with Canada 
was cut in half to $0.8 billion from $1.4 billion, while the gap with 
Mexico narrowed to $5.8 billion from $7.7 billion. 
     - Most interesting is the narrower Canada gap, which has improved 
noticeably from January 2018, when it was $3.7 billion, suggesting 
tariff action has been partially successful at trimming the deficit.
     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 
[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$]

To read the full story

Close

Why MNI

MNI is the leading provider

of intelligence and analysis on the Global Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Energy markets. We use an innovative combination of real-time analysis, deep fundamental research and journalism to provide unique and actionable insights for traders and investors. Our "All signal, no noise" approach drives an intelligence service that is succinct and timely, which is highly regarded by our time constrained client base.

Our Head Office is in London with offices in Chicago, Washington and Beijing, as well as an on the ground presence in other major financial centres across the world.