The U.S. international trade deficit was $71.4 billion in March, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday, up half-billion dollars from February, or 0.7%.
Exports rose $1.4 billion to just above $140 billion, but imports rose even more, up $2 billion to just under $212 billion over the last month. Wholesale inventories remained flat at $668 billion, while retail inventories declined 0.3% to just $657 billion.
The rise in exports was driven by a 6.5% increase in agricultural products, while exports of autos fell 1.5%. Food, animal feed, and beverages drove the rise in imports, increasing at just above 8%.
Overall, the trade deficit has risen about $16 billion from this time last year, indicating that President Trump’s aggressive trade policies, meant to reduce the trade deficit, have exacerbated it instead. Nevertheless the economic picture was upbeat.
The trade deficit’s rise and the drop in inventories follow news that the first-quarter GDP rose at a 3.2% rate in the initial estimate, beating expectations and up from the previous quarter’s period’s 2.2% pace. The government also reported Friday that unemployment fell to 3.6% in April.
