Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
 
Posts: n/a
Default OT BushCo's deficit a record $66.1 billion

WASHINGTON -- Higher oil prices and Americans' unquenchable thirst for
imports of all kinds pushed the U.S. trade deficit to a record
$66.1-billion (U.S.) in September, including the largest gap ever with
Canada.

Economists knew the gap would widen after a series of devastating
hurricanes disrupted oil production, sending the cost of a barrel of
oil briefly over $70. They just hadn't anticipated this much of a
surge.

"Markets were caught off-guard by a blow-out trade deficit," said Jason
Schenker, an economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "This
could affect growth."

The numbers are once again stoking protectionist fires in Washington,
where support for free trade is waning.

Advertisements










Mortgage Rates
Compare national rates by lender: See Chart
The September trade deficit included record monthly gaps with both
Canada -- a major energy supplier -- (up 18 per cent to $7.4-billion)
and China (up 8.9 per cent to $20.1-billion), according to the U.S.
Commerce Department. The deficit with China was the largest imbalance
the United States has ever recorded with a single country.

The September deficit shattered the previous high of $60.4-billion, set
in February. The trade gap in August was $59.3-billion.

The U.S. is now on track to post a record annual deficit of more than
$700-billion, easily eclipsing last year's deficit of $617.6-billion.

Exports fell 0.6 per cent, while imports grew 2 per cent, the
Department of Commerce said.

A strike at Boeing Co. was also a factor because it temporarily halted
exports of high-value aircraft.

Some economists predicted the deficit could breach $70-billion by
mid-2006.

Tanweer Akram of Economy.com in West Chester, Pa., predicted the
deficit would stabilize "over time," as China gradually inflates the
value of its currency, the yuan. But for now, the United States will
continue to run large trade deficits as a percentage of economic
output.

"The strong influence of goods from the rest of the world to the United
States continues unabated," he said.

The trade deficit in the third quarter represented a record 5.7 per
cent of U.S. gross domestic product.

Economist David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch & Co. suggested most of the
factors pushing the deficit up in September would begin to "unwind" in
October and November.

Still, the recent upward trajectory of the deficit has become a cause
of growing concern in Washington, where pressure is mounting on the
Bush administration to give as little as possible in global free trade
talks.

"Not only are the trade agreements we're negotiating around the world
not turning things around, they are making things much worse," said
North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan. Mr. Dorgan joined 14 other senators
yesterday in asking U.S. President George W. Bush to crack down on
currency speculation and counterfeiting, particularly by China. "We've
got a serious, significant and chronic problem and it requires urgent
action," he said. Mr. Dorgan also complained that free trade is gutting
the U.S. of factory jobs.

"We don't make one pair of Levi's in the United States any more. Want
to wear Tony Lama Boots? You're probably wearing Chinese boots. You
want to eat Fig Newton cookies? You're eating a foreign product. Didn't
used to be. It's Mexican now. We are seeing a wholesale movement away
from this country of things that we make, products that we produce,
that used to have attached to them good jobs for Americans."

Economist Peter Morici of the University of Maryland agrees. He said an
"effective policy" to curb currency manipulation could cut the U.S.
trade deficit in half and create nearly two million manufacturing jobs
in the United States.

Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:49 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 BoatBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Boats"

 

Copyright © 2017