U.S. merchandise trade deficit expands, imports rise to highest level since

The U.S. Department of Commerce released data on Wednesday showing that the merchandise trade deficit widened to $80.3 billion from $79.4 billion in September. Imports increased by 2.2% to US$206.3 billion, the highest level since September 2019, and exports increased by 2.8% to US$126 billion. Data show that Trump’s changes to U.S. trade policy achieved some results before the outbreak of the new coronavirus, but the damage to supply chains and demand caused by the epidemic made it impossible to achieve the goal of narrowing the trade deficit. Both imports and exports have improved from the beginning of the crisis, but imports are still below pre-epidemic levels. </p