U.S. trade gap rises to $65.7B in December; sets annual record in 2005.

Fonte: CNNfn

10 Feb 2006 13:47 GMT


Trade gap widens in Dec., sets new annual record

WASHINGTON (AFX) - The U.S. trade deficit widened in December and swelled to a new annual record, a government report showed Friday.

The nation's trade deficit widened by 1.5% in December to $65.7 billion, the Commerce Department said.

The widening was larger than expected. Analysts surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the deficit to widen to $64.6 billion.

For all of 2005, the U.S. recorded a record trade deficit of $725.8 billion, or 5.8% of GDP. This compares with a deficit of $617.6 billion, or 5.3% of GDP in 2004.

The U.S. imported a record amount of petroleum in 2005.

Commerce raised its estimate of November trade deficit to $64.7 billion from the initial estimate of $64.2 billion.

In December, exports rose faster than imports but not enough to lower the deficit..

Exports increased 2.1% to $111.5 billion, the fastest pace since April. December imports rose 1.9% to $177.2 billion.

Imports of goods alone rose 2.1% to $149.6 billion, with the largest increase coming in imports of consumer goods.

The U.S. imported a record amount of agricultural products, capital goods and autos and auto parts in December.

Meanwhile, exports of goods alone rose 2.4% to $79.0 billion.

The U.S. exported a record amount of capital goods, autos and consumer goods in December.

As expected, exports of civilian aircraft, primarily from Boeing Co. , declined in December.

Imports rose even though petroleum imports declined in December.

The petroleum deficit narrowed 5.1% to a $21.8 billion in December.

The value of U.S. oil imports fell to $15.50 billion in December from $16.40 billion in November as the price of a barrel of oil fell to $49.76 from $52.16 in November. This was the lowest price since July. The quantity of crude imports fell to 311.5 million barrels from 314.4 million in the previous month.

Always in the political spotlight, the U.S. trade deficit with China widened to $16.30 billion in December from $14.17 billion in the same month last year.

The trade gap with China rose to a record $201.63 billion in 2005, up from $161.94 billion in the same period last year.

The U.S. also set record annual trade deficits with three other countries, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. The U.S. set record trade gaps with the European Union, South/Central America and OPEC.