Trade Deficit Hits Record $19.4B
Filed at 8:47 a.m. EDT -- April 20, 1999
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's trade deficit soared to a
record $19.4 billion in February as the global
financial crisis depressed U.S. exports for a fourth
straight month while booming consumer demand pushed
imports to an all-time high.
The Commerce Department reported today that February's
deficit was 15.6 percent higher than the previous
record, a $16.8 billion imbalance in January.
In February, U.S. exports edged down 0.6 percent to
$76.6 billion, led by a $927 million decline in sales
of commercial aircraft. Imports jumped 2.3 percent to
an all-time high of $96 billion as demand for foreign
cars, clothing, toys, televisions and stereos soared.
With back-to-back records, the trade deficit so far
this year is running at an annual rate of $215 billion,
far surpassing last year's all-time high of $169
billion.
Economists believe that as long as the U.S. economy
remains strong and many of America's major export
markets remain in recessions caused by the steep plunge
in financial markets that began in Asia in July 1997,
the U.S. trade deficit will continue to rise.
A widening trade deficit is the one cloud on an
otherwise bright economic horizon for the United
States, which has managed to remain what Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has termed an ''oasis
of prosperity'' in a sea of economic trouble around the
world.
Greenspan, however, expressed concerns last week about
a growing movement toward protectionism in this
country, a development that has the White House worried
as well.
The administration is concerned that erecting U.S.
trade barriers will trigger copycat responses while
jittery markets are fearful that political pressures
will make nations turn inward in response to the worst
global economic crisis in 50 years.
President Clinton, worried about a growing
protectionist mood in Congress, balked earlier this
month at reaching a sweeping trade agreement with
China. That disappointed many in the business community
who have complained for years about China's high trade
barriers.
For February, the deficit with China narrowed slightly
to $4.6 billion. But America's deficit with Japan shot
up 13.1 percent to $5.3 billion. The administration is
pursing a number of trade negotiations with Japan in
hopes of showing progress in opening that market to
U.S. firms by the time of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's
visit next month.
In one bright spot, America's surplus in services,
which includes such things as tourism and consulting
fees, rose 4 percent to a monthly record of $6.7
billion.
The surplus in services, however, did little to dent a
record $26.2 billion deficit in the goods area. U.S.
exporters continued to find it hard to make overseas
sales because of an economic crisis that has pushed
one-third of the global economy into recession.
The February drop in exports included a $130 million
decline in farm sales, to $3.6 billion, with the drop
led by falling shipments of soybeans and wheat.
American farmers, who grow one-third of their crops for
export, are suffering their worst times in a decade.
In addition to commercial aircraft, manufactured
exports of telecommunications equipment and electric
generators also dropped in February.
On the import side, foreign shipments of autos and
automotive parts rose to a record $14.6 billion, up
$710 million for the month. Other increases included
computer accessories, up $449 million; clothing, up
$202 million; toys, up $156 million; and televisions
and VCRs, up $150 million.
America's deficit with Mexico climbed to a record $1.8
billion in February while U.S. exports to Brazil, which
became the latest victim of the global currency turmoil
in January, dropped to $910 million, the lowest level
since April 1996. |
