Press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, Tuesday, February 6, 2018
U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis NEWS
U.S. Department of Commerce * Washington, DC 20230
U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES
December 2017
Blogger Note: The U.S. Trade deficit is wider than any month or year since 2008
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $53.1 billion in December, up $2.7 billion from $50.4 billion in November, revised.
> December exports were $203.4 billion, $3.5 billion more than November exports.
> December imports were $256.5 billion, $6.2 billion more than November imports.
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REACTIONS + COMMENTS:
Bloomberg-Feb 6, 2018
The deficit increased 5.3 percent in December to a larger-than- expected $53.1 billion, the widest since October 2008, as imports outpaced exports, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday. For all of 2017, the goods-and-services gap grew 12 percent to $566 billion, the biggest since 2008.
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The December increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficitof $2.6 billion to $73.3 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $0.1 billion to $20.2 billion.
For 2017, the goods and services deficit increased $61.2 billion, or 12.1 percent, from 2016. Exports increased $121.2 billion or 5.5 percent.
Imports increased $182.5 billion or 6.7 percent.
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Revisions
In addition to revisions to source data for the November statistics, the seasonally adjusted goodsdata were revised for January through November so that the totals of the seasonally adjusted months equal the annual totals.
Revisions to November exports
* Exports of goods were revised down $0.5 billion.
* Exports of services were revised up $0.1 billion.
Revisions to November imports
* Imports of goods were revised down $0.6 billion.
* Imports of services were revised up $0.1 billion.
Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (Exhibit 19)
The December figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with
- South and Central America ($3.7)
- Hong Kong ($2.5), Brazil ($1.1)
- Singapore ($0.9)
- United Kingdom ($0.3).
Deficits were recorded,in billions of dollars, with
- China ($34.0)
- European Union ($17.2)
- Mexico ($6.1)
- Germany ($5.7),
- Japan ($5.5)
- Italy ($3.7)
- South Korea ($2.1)
- India ($2.1)
- France ($2.1)
- Taiwan ($1.6)
- Canada ($1.4)
- Saudi Arabia ($0.6)
- OPEC ($0.5).
* The deficit with the European Union increased $3.8 billion to $17.2 billion in December.
Exports increased $1.2 billion to $25.1 billion and imports increased $4.9 billion to $42.3
billion.
* The deficit with China increased $0.6 billion to $34.0 billion in December. Exports increased
$1.1 billion to $11.9 billion and imports increased $1.7 billion to $45.9 billion.
Annual Summary for 2017
Goods and Services (Exhibit 1)
For 2017, the goods and services deficit was $566.0 billion, up $61.2 billion from $504.8 billion in 2016.
Exports were $2,329.3 billion in 2017, up $121.2 billion from 2016.
Imports were $2,895.3 billion in 2017, up $182.5 billion from 2016.
The 2017 increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $57.5 billion or 7.6 percent to $810.0 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $3.7 billion or 1.5 percent to $244.0 billion.
As a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product, the goods and services deficit was 2.9 percent in 2017, up from 2.7 percent in 2016.
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Goods by Selected Countries and Areas – Census Basis (Exhibits 14 and 14a)
The 2017 figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($34.3),
Hong Kong ($32.5), Netherlands ($24.5), Belgium ($14.8), and Australia ($14.6). Deficits were recorded,
in billions of dollars, with China ($375.2), European Union ($151.4), Mexico ($71.1), Japan ($68.8),
Germany ($64.3), Ireland ($38.1), Italy ($31.6), Malaysia ($24.6), India ($22.9), South Korea ($22.9),
Thailand ($20.4), Canada ($17.6), Taiwan ($16.7), France ($15.3), Switzerland ($14.3), Indonesia
($13.3), and OPEC ($13.0).
* The deficit with China increased $28.2 billion to $375.2 billion in 2017. Exports increased
$14.8 billion to $130.4 billion and imports increased $43.0 billion to $505.6 billion.
* The deficit with Mexico increased $6.7 billion to $71.1 billion in 2017. Exports increased
$13.3 billion to $243.0 billion and imports increased $20.0 billion to $314.0 billion.
NOTICE
Changes to Release Layout
With the release of the “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: January 2018” report on
March 7, 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the U.S. Census Bureau will implement
changes to the release layout to reflect recent changes to each bureau’s respective style guidelines
for economic indicator news releases. These changes will not affect the statistics or the text
contained in the release. The layout and format of the exhibits also will not be impacted.
Substantive changes include:
* Adding a summary box that presents the goods and services trade deficit, exports of goods and
services, imports of goods and services, and the percent change from the prior month for each of
these series.
* Removing the “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services” chart, which shows exports,
imports, and the trade balance.
* Reorienting the chart on the goods and services trade balance to show the goods and services
trade deficit.
* Relocating the “Information on Goods and Services” section to immediately after the release
text and renaming this section as “Explanatory Notes.”
Previews of the new layout using the content of “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services:
November 2017,” which was released on January 5, 2018, are available atwww.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/trade/2018/pdf/trad1217-trade-layout-bea.pdf (BEA layout)
and www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/notices/trad1217-trade-layout-census.pdf (Census Bureau
layout).
If you have questions, please contact BEA, Balance of Payments Division, at InternationalAccounts@bea.govor the Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or ateid.international.trade.data@census.gov.
NOTES:
*All statistics referenced are seasonally adjusted; statistics are on a balance of
payments basis unless otherwise specified. Additional statistics, including not seasonally
adjusted statistics and details for goods on a Census basis, are available in Exhibits 1-20b of this release.
For information on data sources, definitions, revision procedures, and
scheduled release dates through December 2018, see the information section on page A-1 of this release. The next release is March 7, 2018.
