The US Trade Deficit

The US trade deficit continues to grow. From this morning’s BEA news release:

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total October exports of $107.5 billion and imports of $176.4 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $68.9 billion, $2.9 billion more than the $66.0 billion in September, revised. October exports were $1.8 billion more than September exports of $105.8 billion. October imports were $4.7 billion more than September imports of $171.8 billion.

A lot of this deficit is, of course, due to trade with China. China alone accounts for $166bn of the $645bn deficit that the US has run so far this year.

But the US trade deficit is the result of much more than just imports from China. The following chart shows which of the world’s other countries are contributing to the US’s trade deficit. The short answer is: almost all of them.

The US runs substantial trade deficits with almost the entire rest of the planet: with oil-exporting OPEC, of course; but also with Canada; with Mexico and the rest of Latin America; with economically struggling Germany and Japan; with the rest of sluggish and expensive Europe; and even with non-OPEC Africa. The US runs a trade deficit with rich countries and poor countries, with countries that are growing rapidly and countries that are stagnating, with high-cost and low-cost countries. The US runs a trade deficit with just about everyone.

Kash

UPDATE: Chart altered to remove erroneous “other” category.