The US trade deficit just shrank for the first time in 5 months
Trump administration's trade talks with China on the right track?
Fox News national security analyst Walid Phares on Trump administration negotiations with North Korea and China and the foreign policy issues President Trump may address in the State of the Union.
The U.S. trade deficit fell in November for the first time in five months, largely thanks to a drop in Chinese imports.
The goods and services deficit was $49.3 billion in November -- down $6.4 billion from $55.7 billion in October, according to data released by the the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The deficit -- or the amount of goods the U.S. imports versus exports -- decreased by $2.8 billion to $35.4 billion in November. Exports to China, meanwhile, fell by about $0.1 billion to $7.4 billion – while imports shrank by $2.9 billion to $42.8 billion. That accounted for about 40 percent of the import decline.
The data could be indicative that a tit-for-tat tariff battle between the U.S. and China, which started almost one year ago and has culminated in billions of dollars of taxes, is helping to shrink the trade deficit.
So far, the Trump administration has imposed tariffs on about $200 billion of imports from Beijing -- and has threatened to hike the tariff rate to 25 percent.
President Trump has long railed against trade deficits, and has demanded that China close the gap by buying more American goods.
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Negotiators from the U.S. will head to China next week to continue trade talks ahead of a March 1 deadline.