U.S. Trade Deficit Widens in October More than Forecast

The Commerce Department said Tuesday the U.S. trade deficit widened to $42.6 billion up $6.4 billion from $36.2 billion in September. The median economic forecast was looking for the deficit to increase to just $41.8 billion, but exports outpaced imports more than economists anticipated.

October exports were $186.4 billion, $3.4 billion less than September exports. October imports were $229.0 billion, $3.0 billion more than September imports.

While the trade deficit in September was revised down to $36.17 billion, the politically-sensitive deficits with China and Mexico came in at $28.9 billion and $5.8, respectively. The deficit with China widened by $2.0 billion to $28.9 billion, as exports increased by $0.5 billion to $10.6 billion while imports only gained $2.4 billion to $39.5 billion.

The remaining deficits were as follows: European Union ($12.9), Japan ($5.8), Germany ($4.7), India ($2.4), Italy ($2.2), OPEC ($2.1), Canada ($1.7), France ($1.6), South Korea ($1.4), Taiwan ($1.0), United Kingdom ($0.7), and Saudi Arabia ($0.2).

The balance with both Canada and the United Kingdom shifted from surpluses last month to deficits. With Canada, a $0.2 billion surplus in September turned into a deficit of $1.7 billion in October, while the United Kingdom shifted from a surplus of $0.9 billion in September to a deficit of $0.7 billion in October.

Exports to Canada decreased $0.9 billion to $22.0 billion but imports increased $1.0 billion to $23.6 billion. Exports with the United Kingdom fell by $1.0 billion to $4.3 billion but imports increased $0.6 billion to $5.0 billion.