The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the Goods and Services Trade Deficit was $54.0 billion in July, down $1.5 billion from $55.5 billion in June, revised.
Exports, Imports, and Balance
- July exports were $207.4 billion, $1.2 billion more than June exports. July imports were $261.4 billion, $0.4 billion less than June imports.
- The July decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $1.6 billion to $73.7 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $0.1 billion to $19.7 billion.
- Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $28.2 billion, or 8.2 percent, from the same period in 2018. Exports decreased $3.4 billion or 0.2 percent. Imports increased $24.9 billion or 1.4 percent.
Three-Month Moving Averages
- The average goods and services deficit increased $0.7 billion to $55.1 billion for the three months ending in July.
- Average exports increased $0.5 billion to $208.0 billion in July.
- Average imports increased $1.2 billion to $263.1 billion in July.
Quarterly Goods and Services by Selected Countries and Areas
- EU: The US deficit with the European Union increased from -27,455 to -35,073.
- Japan: The US deficit with Japan increased from -15,575 to -16,251.
- Mexico: The US deficit with Mexico increased from -22,979 to -26,088.
- Canada: The US went from a surplus of $3.9 billion with Canada to a deficit of $3.3 billion in the second quarter.
China
- Quarter-Over Quarter the goods and services deficit with China fell a trivial 0.22 billion from the first quarter (-80,823) to the second quarter (-80,601)
- However, from June to July, the trade deficit with China increased from -29,643 to -30,154.
Big Wins Not
This is not winning big.
Heck, it's not winning at all.
Sewed Reporting
For starters, trade deficit reporting is Deeply Skewed.
Take a look at the iPhone X. IHS Markit estimates its components cost a total of $370.25. Of that, $110 goes to Samsung Electronics in South Korea for supplying displays. Another $44.45 goes to Japan's Toshiba Corp and South Korea's SK Hynix for memory chips.
Other suppliers from Taiwan, the United States and Europe also take their portion, while assembly, done by contract manufacturers in China like Foxconn, represents only an estimated 3 to 6 percent of the manufacturing cost.
Current trade statistics, however, count most of the manufacturing cost in China's export numbers, which has prompted global bodies like the World Trade Organization to consider alternative calculations that include where value is added.
Global Supply Chain Disruption
Global supply chains are long and complicated. Overall, China is barely running a trade surplus with the world.
All Trump has managed to do is shift supply chains from one country to another. The US has not benefited.
Even if one believed trade deficits represent a huge problem, it should be clear by now that trade wars cannot possibly be the answer.
Yet, Trump's only solution to date has been to double with failed tactics.
