US November Trade Deficit Hits Lowest in 3 Years... "Improvement in Trade Balance with China"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As the United States and China prepare to sign the Phase One trade agreement, the U.S. trade deficit in November last year reached its lowest level in three years. The reduction in the trade deficit with China improved the overall U.S. trade balance.

According to MarketWatch and others on the 7th (local time), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the goods and services trade deficit in November last year was approximately $43.1 billion (about 50.3 trillion KRW), down 8.2% from the previous month. This figure was lower than experts' expectations ($43.6 billion) and marked the smallest deficit since October 2016 ($42.0 billion), a span of three years and one month.

This decrease in the trade deficit resulted from increased exports and reduced imports. In November last year, U.S. exports totaled $208.6 billion, up 0.7% from the previous month. Conversely, imports were recorded at $251.7 billion, down 1.0% from the previous month.

Recently, U.S. imports of capital goods have been declining due to reduced corporate investment, and imports of consumer goods have decreased due to tariffs on China. CNBC reported, "The trade deficit in November is the lowest since President Donald Trump's inauguration," adding, "This trade balance indicator is expected to positively impact the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of last year." MarketWatch forecasted, "If this trade balance gap remains at the same level in December, the U.S. could record an annual reduction in the trade deficit for the first time in six years."

In particular, the reduction in the trade imbalance with China, with whom trade tensions have been ongoing, contributed to the decrease in the U.S. trade deficit. The goods trade deficit with China was $25.6 billion in November, down 7.9% from the previous month. Exports increased by $1.4 billion, while imports decreased by $0.8 billion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.