News / Economy

US trade deficit in March at 6-year high

Tuesday, 05 May 2015 3:04 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 05 May 2015 3:05 PM ]

Container ships wait to be unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles on Feb. 23, 2015. (AP photo)

The US trade deficit has jumped to its highest level in more than six years, fueled by a record surge in imports, ranging from automobiles to cellphones.

The trade deficit, which is the short-fall between exports and imports, rose to $51.4 billion in March, the biggest jump since October 2008 and 43.1 percent higher than in February, the largest increase in 18 years, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

Exports rose nearly 1 percent to $187.8 billion, whereas imports jumped 7.7 percent to $239.2 billion.

The Commerce Department figures indicate that international trade played a key role in the US economy's lackluster growth in the first quarter.

The results could force the Obama administration to revise its gross domestic product (GDP) estimation down for the period.

An American economist said the huge trade deficit means the economy "undoubtedly contracted slightly in the first quarter."

Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, said that GDP in the January-March period essentially dropped to 0.3 percent instead of the 0.2 percent growth the government had claimed last week.

Michael Feroli, chief US economist at JP Morgan Securities LLC in New York, said, “When we smooth through the data, it looks like the trend in imports is moving higher whereas the trend in exports looks kind of soft.”

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