Trade deficit rises to highest level in 3 months
Higher oil bill, flood of Chinese imports offset higher U.S. exports

updated 8:54 a.m. ET, Wed., Dec. 12, 2007
WASHINGTON - The U.S. trade deficit rose to the highest level in three months, with record oil prices and a flood of toys and other imports from China swamping a solid gain in American exports.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit for October increased to $57.8 billion, the highest level since July and 1.2 percent above the September imbalance.

The widening deficit was slightly worse than expected and occurred even though U.S. exports of goods and services rose for an eighth consecutive month, climbing 0.9 percent to an all-time high of $141.7 billion. This gain was offset by a 1 percent rise in imports to $199.5 billion, also a record, as a surge in global oil prices sent America’s oil bill soaring.

The deficit with China jumped 9.1 percent to $25.9 billion, a record for a single month.

The rise reflected record imports from China, led by large gains in shipments of toys and games and televisions as retailers stocked their shelves for Christmas. The demand for Chinese imports is still surging despite a string of high-profile recalls of Chinese products from toys with lead paint to defective tires and tainted toothpaste.

So far this year, the trade imbalance with China is running at an annual rate of $256 billion, putting it on track to surpass last year’s $233 billion deficit, which had been the highest deficit ever recorded with a single country.

Those record deficits have triggered a backlash in Congress, with dozens of bills introduced seeking to penalize China for what critics see as unfair trade practices contributing to the loss of 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs since 2000.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other members of President Bush’s Cabinet were meeting with their counterparts in China this week for the third round of talks aimed at defusing trade tensions. While minor agreements were expected, there was likely to be no breakthrough on the biggest point of contention, China’s undervalued currency. The currency disparity makes Chinese products cheaper in America and U.S. goods more expensive in China.

Some of the legislation in Congress seeks to impose penalty tariffs on Chinese products unless China allows its currency to rise in value against the dollar at a faster rate. But Vice Premier Wu Yi, the leader of the Chinese delegation, delivered a blunt threat of Chinese retaliation should the United States impose economic penalties on China.

“I need to be quite candid about this: If these bills are adopted, they will severely undermine U.S. business ties with China,” Wu said at the opening of the talks with Paulson on Wednesday.

The gain in exports was led by increased shipments of civilian aircraft, industrial equipment and telecommunications products. U.S. manufacturers have been benefiting from a fall in the value of the dollar against many other currencies including the European euro. The weaker dollar makes U.S. goods cheaper on overseas markets while making foreign products more expensive for U.S. consumers.

So far this year, the U.S. trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $704 billion, down by 7.1 percent from last year’s $758.5 billion, putting the country on track to see the first narrowing of the deficit after five consecutive years of record imbalances.

The import gain was led by an 8.3 percent jump in the foreign oil bill with petroleum imports setting an all-time high of $29.6 billion in October. The average price of a barrel of imported crude also set a record at $72.49 per barrel. The oil bill is expected to rise even more in coming months, reflecting the fact that prices jumped to near $100 per barrel at their peak this fall.

How about we make use of some of Bush's oil wells in Texas that he inherited from his father to lower crude oil prices here in the U.S.?

how about drilling more in alaska

and maybe equador

and the gulf

i doubt if he is setting on those wells and not using them

he should be selling the oil

so he could use the money

to by more things

He is stockpiling it. For what reason I have no idea...

If "WE" started making a real effort to by American products this would not be as bad as it is. Every single American is to blame for this, whether you like it or not.

interesting do you have a link i would like to read up on that

happy reading
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2005-08-28-oil-katrina_x.htm

Interesting quote from the same report "The government stockpile consists of more than 700 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas."

A much more recent report http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5370869.html

That's the perfect thing to do, the Government should just take whatever it wants. Then we can all be comrades.

They are stockpiling oil because they obviously believe something big is going to happen and taking action to get us through it. If one terrorist blows up a ship docked in Saudi Arabia, which they recently plotted to do and failed, we would be so screwed. Without being able to tap into the Gulf or Alaska we are f'ed if anything happens over there. Our economy would completely collapse should oil be cut off for without it we have nothing.

We NEED to tap into Alaska and the Gulf, for the security of the US. Screw the environmentalists who are preventing us from doing so with lawsuit after lawsuit.

The US did export more this year....

More bullets, more inferior kevla vests, more guns, more soldiers, more food, more tanks, more trucks, more planes...


The US exported heaps this year!

All those bullets, guns and soldiers were used to buy the freedom of millions of people in Afganistan and Iraq. Where women had to cover their hair or be murdered by their own families, we now have beauty salons. Women can show their faces, their hair and make their own decisions. In other words, women are no longer cattle. It's very easy to sit in a democratic country and complain about the effort to give freedom to millions of people. I'm sure any number of them would love to have your problems.

I say we "need" to get off of oil, screw ruining our landscapes, we've got the technology that uses less oil, shouldn't be too much longer before we don't need it at all;^]

Of course we need to get off oil, but we don't have those capabilities yet. When alternative fuels, or a single fuel, becomes more efficient, cost effective, easily produced, and so forth than we can really think about it. Research is going on, even the oil companies are putting great amounts of research and funds into it. The oil companies will always remain, we'll need oil for other products, but they will also become the sources of other fuel as well.

Wind technology and dams for hydroelectric plants ruin the landscape ten times more than oil plants, drilling stations, and pipelines ever will.

A mountain-side full of ugly windmills chopping up birds isn't the best idea by me. Solar power is not efficient at all. And ethanol fuel is highly inefficient. Way too much corn is needed to produce gas. And, with all the corn needed for gas corn for food will disappear. There is just not enough land and corn grow to even out.

We need fusion technology. Or, something run solely on hydro/fusion mixed technology that produces solely water vapors.

We aren't even close to efficiency needed, oil will be around and needed for at least half a century. And, even when we do find that super new fuel it will take a long time to switch over because it will create a huge economic impact on business, but even bigger impact on citizens having to buy new cars and heating and everything.

Right now, we need MORE oil. We need to tap into the Gulf and Alaska, until we get our hands on that new super fuel that will make oil OBSOLETE.

There's a big differance between making the landscapes "ugly" with windmills and such and destroying them from deep inside the ground with drilling. Besides, what are we gonna do when the oil runs out & we discover that our eco system depends on having oil under the ground? Not enough corn? That's pure speculation, especialy considering corn is one of our most plentiful crops. And besides, corn isn't exactly the most healthy thing to eat anyway, especialy given our obesity problem. As for fusion, if you mean nuclear fusion, we're a good ways from figuring that one out last I heard. Luckily, diesal vehicles no longer need gas at all, bio diesal is very efficiant, and e85 is equaly efficiant and cost effective. Now if we can just figure out how to cut that 15% of gas out of e85 then the future could indeed be oil free;^]

Interesting quote from the same report "The government stockpile consists of more than 700 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas."


That is a good thing!!!!