March trade deficit widens to $27.58b
The Commerce Department says the U.S. trade deficit is climbing again, up to $27.58 billion in March. As Dan Grech reports, this is a return to old times.
Cargo ships unload their shipping containers at the Port of Miami in Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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BILL RADKE: The government reported this morning the U.S. trade deficit is climbing again -- up 5 percent to $27.5 billion in March. The trade gap had been shrinking lately. Dan Grech tells us, this is back to old times.
DAN GRECH: For years, the U.S. has bought more from the rest of the world than it's sold. Six months ago, that gap between exports and imports -- the trade deficit -- reached a record high $60 billion a month. Today, the deficit is less than half that, because the global economy has tanked. Nigel Gault is chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight.
NIGEL GAULT: We've been looking for a trade deficit decline for a long time. We would have preferred that it would have happened through seeing exports grow faster than imports. Rather than seeing exports and imports both declining, but imports declining more.
Gault says the U.S. economy is still too dependent on foreign goods.
GAULT: There is a long term re-balancing that's needed in the global economy. We need to see more spending in the rest of the world, and more production growth in the U.S.
Gault says it's doubtful that can be achieved in the next few years.
I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.
Comments
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From houston, TX, 05/12/2009
The problem is too many special interests(US Chamber of Commerce) also called (foreign companies way in Commerce). that would derail any attempt by our government to have a national strategy to get us back in the lead globally. We are screwed until we take back our country.
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