Trade Deficit

France's foreign trade deficit widened in January to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 billion francs, or $372.5 million, from 661 million francs in December, the Industry Ministry said. January's result marked a sharp downturn from the second half of 1984, when the trade account fluctuated near balance.

The biggest factor in the U.S. electronics trade deficit in 1986 was Japan, which exported $23.9 billion worth of electronics goods to the United States but imported only $3.5 billion worth, according to the American Electronics Assn. Imports exceeded exports by $13.1 billion in 1986, up 49% from an $8.8-billion deficit the year before, the Palo Alto-based association reported. The $20.4-billion total trade deficit with Japan was up 17% from $17.5 billion in 1985, the group said.

The U.S. trade deficit took an unexpectedly large turn for the worse in December, loading more foreign debt onto Americans and lengthening the odds against President Obama's effort to spark job growth by sharply boosting exports. The Commerce Department report Wednesday, recording the third straight month of rising trade deficits, showed that exports continued to rebound at a solid pace in the final weeks of 2009, but a surge in oil imports wiped out the gain, leaving the country's trade balance $40.2 billion in the red. That was up sharply from the $36.4-billion shortfall in November 2009.

The dollar fell in active trading Wednesday after the government reported that the U.S. trade deficit had swollen to a record half-year level with little sign of slackening. Gold prices also were down slightly. The Republic National Bank in New York quoted gold at $351.50 an ounce as of 4 p.m., 60 cents lower than Tuesday's late bid. Traders said the dollar was depressed by Wednesday's Commerce Department report that the U.S. trade deficit reached a record $83.

In folk tales, sometimes a character is punished by being granted his or her wish--because getting what we think we want is often the worst thing that can happen to us. Something like that is now happening to the United States. We all want the trade deficit to disappear, and the latest trade numbers show that it's finally starting to decline in earnest. But when the trade deficit goes away (or even falls much further), we'll discover that America isn't ready for balanced trade.

The Commerce Department will release the February trade report Tuesday, and economists expect the U.S. trade deficit probably hovered close to a record. The international trade shortfall in goods and services probably narrowed to $16.6 billion after widening in January to a record $17 billion, analysts said. For goods and services trade combined, the January shortfall was the largest since the government began compiling that figure monthly starting in January 1992.

The U.S. trade deficit was $40.2 billion in the fourth quarter when figured on a balance of payments basis, bringing to a record $159.3 billion the trade shortfall for 1987, the government said today. The fourth quarter imbalance was a slight improvement from the revised $40.4 billion deficit in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The third-quarter deficit was a record high.

The U.S. trade deficit will narrow by no more than $15 billion to $20 billion in 1987, about half the improvement projected by the Reagan Administration, an industry group predicted today. A study by the National Assn. of Manufacturers said an easing of the deficit will be "painfully slow," and ultimately may require a reduction in U.S. living standards. In a pessimistic assessment, the association's chief economist, Jerry J.

Robert J. Samuelson ("World Feasts on Deficit in U.S. Bazaar," Op-Ed Page, Nov. 19) makes an important point when he shows that the trade deficit is attributable to our voracious purchasing of foreign goods rather than to a decline in exports. What he neglects to point out is where the money for us to purchase all these goods comes from: a massive federal deficit. The fact is that we are being encouraged to continue our spending binge by a government that refuses to tax us or to cut its extravagant defense budget.