The US trade deficit rose to its highest level in twelve years last year, as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the flow of goods and services.
US Department of Commerce He said on FridayThat last year there was a deficit of $ 678.7 billion in the foreign trade balance, the highest value since 2008 and an increase of 17.7 percent from $ 576.9 billion the previous year, MTI wrote.
The general trade balance closed with a deficit of 916 billion dollars, while services trade achieved a surplus of 237 billion dollars.
Exports of goods and services decreased by 396.4 billion dollars, or 15.7 percent, to 2131 billion dollars, the lowest level since 2010. The value of imports decreased to its lowest level in four years by 9.5 percent, to 294.5 billion dollars to 2810.5 billion dollars.
The sharp drop in exports also contributed to the performance of the US economy, an unprecedented decline of 3.5% in 2020. The foreign trade turnover gradually increased as the year progressed.
In December, according to seasonally adjusted data, the deficit started at $ 66.6 billion, down 3.5 percent from $ 69.0 billion in November. Analysts had forecast a smaller deficit of $ 65.7 billion from December.
There was a $ 84.2 billion deficit in goods trade and a $ 17.5 billion surplus in services in December.
Exports increased 3.4 percent to $ 190 billion, while imports increased 1.5 percent to $ 256.6 billion in the last month of the year.
In the politically sensitive relationship with China, the US trade deficit decreased to $ 2.3 billion, to $ 28.1 billion in December, when imports fell $ 1.5 billion to $ 41.7 billion, while exports fell by $ 800 million, creeping into $ 13. 5 billion. For the year as a whole, the deficit decreased by $ 34.4 billion to $ 310.8 billion.
In merchandise trade with the European Union, the US deficit swelled by $ 2.5 billion to $ 19.2 billion in December, and the deficit jumped by $ 5 billion to $ 183.4 billion for the whole year.
