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10 March 2004
U.S. Trade Deficit Up Second Consecutive Month in January
Exports down in part due to foreign bans on U.S. beef
Washington -- The U.S. trade deficit increased to another record in January, the second consecutive monthly rise, as both exports and imports decreased from December 2003.
A March 10 Commerce Department report estimates the January deficit at $43.1 billion, comprising a deficit in goods of $48.4 billion and a surplus in services of $5.3 billion. The deficit in December 2003 was a revised $42.7 billion.
U.S. imports of crude oil went up to $8.8 billion in January from $8.6 billion in December 2003 even though the volume of imports decreased as the price per barrel rose to $28.55 from $27.17.
Imports went down sharply for autos, civilian aircraft and televisions but went up for toys and other consumer goods.
Despite the continued relatively low foreign exchange rate of the dollar, U.S. exports dropped in January for the second month in a row to $89 billion. Exports were down sharply for semiconductors and beef, the latter following restrictions introduced by more than 40 countries on beef imports from the United States after the December 2003 discovery of a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Washington state.
The U.S. trade deficit with China increased from $9.9 billion in December 2003 to $11.5 billion in January, considerably more than twice the next highest bilateral deficit, that with Japan at $5.3 billion. Other large deficits were recorded for Canada, $5.2 billion; Mexico, $3 billion; and Germany, $2.8 billion.
The deficits with European Union countries, including Germany, went down sharply, however, to $5.9 billion in January from $10.3 billion in December 2003, as the euro has continued to increased in value relative to the U.S. dollar. The deficit with Japan was down slightly from December 2003.
Trade has become an issue in this election year, especially outsourcing -- the transfer of jobs to low-wage foreign countries for work previously performed in the United States.
In March 9 remarks in Virginia, President Bush argued that U.S. companies and workers can meet the challenge of foreign competition.
"There are economic isolationists in our country who believe we should separate ourselves from the rest of the world by raising up barriers and closing off markets," Bush said. "They're wrong ... . Given a level playing field, America will outperform the competition, and America will continue to be a world leader."
Following are some key figures:
U.S. GOODS AND SERVICES EXPORTS, IMPORTS AND TRADE BALANCE
Millions of dollars, on a balance of payments basis, seasonally adjusted
Trade
balance Exports Imports
Jan.-Dec. 2002 -418,038 974,107 1,392,145
Jan.-Dec. 2003 -489,911 1,018,720 1,508,632
January 2003 -40,007 82,058 122,065
January 2004 -43,057 89,045 132,102
U.S. GOODS EXPORTS, IMPORTS AND TRADE BALANCE
Millions of dollars, on a balance of payments basis, seasonally adjusted
Trade
balance Exports Imports
Jan.-Dec. 2002 -482,872 681,874 1,164,746
Jan.-Dec. 2003 -549,156 713,788 1,262,945
January 2003 -44,833 57,156 101,989
January 2004 -48,392 61,907 110,299
U.S. SERVICES EXPORTS, IMPORTS AND TRADE BALANCE
Millions of dollars, on a balance of payments basis, seasonally adjusted
Trade
balance Exports Imports
Jan.-Dec. 2002 64,834 292,233 227,399
Jan.-Dec. 2003 59,245 304,932 245,687
January 2003 4,826 24,902 20,076
January 2004 5,335 27,138 21,803
U.S. GOODS EXPORTS, IMPORTS AND TRADE BALANCE, BY COUNTRY
Millions of dollars, on a Census basis, not seasonally adjusted
Bilateral January January
balance exports imports
Total -44,531 59,156 103,687
North America -8,198 21,541 29,740
Canada -5,223 13,348 18,571
Mexico -2,975 8,193 11,168
Western Europe -6,579 13,583 20,163
Euro Area -4,748 9,337 14,086
European Union -5,940 12,527 18,468
Austria -204 121 325
Belgium 365 1,264 899
Finland -270 136 407
France -776 1,485 2,261
Germany -2,796 2,311 5,107
Italy -1,221 784 2,005
Netherlands 777 1,629 852
Spain 66 560 494
Sweden -662 235 896
United Kingdom -431 2,812 3,243
Other EU -787 1,192 1,979
European Free Trade
Association -552 722 1,274
Norway -325 107 432
Switzerland -204 603 807
Other EFTA -23 13 36
Other Western Eur. -87 334 421
Eastern Europe, Former
Soviet Reps. -754 586 1,340
Hungary -192 99 291
Poland -50 65 115
Former Sov. Reps. -360 298 658
Russia -291 159 450
Other FSR -69 139 208
Other Eastern Europe -152 124 276
Pacific Rim -20,657 15,145 35,802
Australia 424 1,018 594
China -11,477 2,593 14,070
Japan -5,252 3,985 9,238
Newly Industrialized
Countries -2,289 5,617 7,906
Hong Kong 264 1,071 807
South Korea -1,529 1,817 3,346
Singapore 93 1,233 1,140
Taiwan -1,117 1,497 2,613
Other Pacific Rim -2,064 1,930 3,994
South/Cent. America -2,332 4,437 6,769
Argentina 12 278 266
Brazil -357 1,034 1,391
Colombia -229 356 585
Other S/C America -1,757 2,769 4,526
OPEC -4,735 1,419 6,153
Indonesia -582 187 769
Nigeria -766 117 882
Saudi Arabia -1,065 383 1,448
Venezuela -1,500 280 1,779
Other OPEC -822 453 1,275
Other countries -3,359 2,911 6,270
Egypt 221 287 66
South Africa -220 194 413
Other -3,360 2,430 5,790
NOTE: Data on a Census basis reflect movement of goods into and out of the United States through U.S. Customs Service stations. Balance-of-payments basis data adjust Census data to include products that bypass Customs, such as exports of military aircraft and imports of electricity from Canada.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
