US trade balance for August 2020 is near record levels (largest deficit since 2008
- US trade deficit $-67.1 billion vs. $-66.2 billion estimate. Last month $-63.4 billion vs. $-63.6 billion previously reported
- exports $171.94 billion vs. $168.32 billion. Exports up 2.2% vs. +8.3% last month
- imports $239.04 billion vs. $231.69 billion. Imports up 3.2% vs. July's +10.9%
- The deficit with China decreased $1.9 billion to $26.4 billion in August. Exports increased $1.7 billion to $11.2 billion and imports decreased $0.2 billion to $37.7 billion
- the services surplus came in at $16.76 billion. The goods deficit came in at $83.86 billion
- capital goods imports $54.69 billion vs. $53.86 billion in July
- OPEC trade surplus $1.25 billion vs. a surplus of $1.19 billion last month
- oil imports $37.43 billion vs. $33.14 billion last month that is a large -30.9% decline from August 2019 $54.15 billion as prices declined and demand weakened.
Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $22.6 billion, or 5.7 percent, from the same period in 2019. Exports decreased $296.1 billion or 17.6 percent. Imports decreased $273.5 billion or 13.1 percent.
The Covid has caused volatility in the trade statistics. The good news is that the imports and exports moved higher this month. The not so good news is year to date, the deficit continues to increase. The China trade deficit vs China has shrunk in 2020 but has moved back toward the highs seen going back to 2014 after the sharp contraction from COVID.
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