WASHINGTON: The US trade deficit widened in February but less than analysts expected, government data showed Thursday, a year since President Donald Trump unleashed sweeping tariffs on virtually all trading partners.
The overall gap expanded 4.9 percent to $57.3 billion as both imports and exports climbed, said the Commerce Department.
Turmoil over Trump’s tariff agenda, however, looks set to continue swaying trade flows in the world’s biggest economy.
The figures released Thursday come as the US Supreme Court struck down a wide swath of Trump’s levies in late February.
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Trump has since turned to different authorities to impose new, temporary 10-percent duties on imports, as his officials launch probes into dozens of countries with an eye on reinstating more lasting tariffs.
This foreshadows more uncertainty for trade in the months ahead.
For now, February’s deficit was slightly less than the $62 billion level expected in surveys of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Exports climbed 4.2 percent to $314.8 billion, boosted by goods such as nonmonetary gold and natural gas.
US imports, too, jumped by 4.3 percent to $372.1 billion, on the back of products like computers and semiconductors.
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