This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

July Trade Deficit Better Than Expected, But Excluding Oil Remains Near Record High

Tyler Durden's picture




 

After several months of disappointing trade data which dragged on GDP for the past two quarters, the July trade balance finally was a welcome beat of already low expectations, printing at a deficit of $40.5, better than the $42.4 billion expected, and an improvement from the downward revised deficit of $40.8 billion in July. The deficit declined as exports increased more than imports. The goods deficit decreased $0.2 billion from June to $60.2 billion in July; the services surplus was nearly unchanged from June at $19.6 billion.

The summary breakdown:

Exports:

  • Exports of goods and services increased $1.8 billion in July to $198.0 billion, mostly reflecting an increase in exports of goods. Exports of services also increased.
  • The increase in exports of goods was more than accounted for by increases in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines and in industrial supplies and materials. Partly offsetting were decreases in consumer goods and in foods, feeds, and beverages.
  • The increase in exports of services reflected increases of less than $0.1 billion in several categories of services.

Imports

  • Imports of goods and services increased $1.6 billion in July to $238.6 billion, reflecting an increase in imports of goods. Imports of services were nearly unchanged.
  • The increase in imports of goods was mostly accounted for by an increase in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines.
  • Imports of services were nearly unchanged as an increase in other business services was mostly offset by a decrease in charges for the use of intellectual property, which decreased due to higher payments in June than in July for the rights to broadcast the 2014 soccer World Cup.

Goods by geographic area (seasonally adjusted, Census basis)

  • The goods deficit with the European Union decreased from $11.5 billion in June to $9.5 billion in July. Exports increased $0.5 billion to $24.8 billion, and imports decreased $1.5 billion to $34.3 billion.
  • The goods deficit with China decreased from $29.2 billion in June to $27.5 billion in July. Exports increased $0.1 billion to $9.8 billion, and imports decreased $1.6 billion to $37.3 billion.
  • The goods deficit with OPEC increased from $3.6 billion in June to $4.9 billion in July. Exports increased $0.3 billion to $6.9 billion, and imports increased $1.5 billion to $11.8 billion.

And yet, even as the deficit contracted, the trade balance excluding the shale revolution, has almost never been worse, as shown in the chart below showing US trade ex crude:

Expect to see some modest upward revisions to Q2 GDP following today's trade beat.

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:08 | 5179344 observer007
observer007's picture
Photos: Missing Libyan Jetliners Raise Fears of Suicide Airliner Attacks on 9/11

 

Islamist militias in Libya took control of nearly a dozen commercial jetliners last month, and western intelligence agencies recently issued a warning that the jets could be used in terrorist attacks across North Africa.

more:

http://homment.com/libyanjets

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:29 | 5179425 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Do you know how the salary is for an ISIL fresher? Does anyone have a prospectus? I can send my CV as I seek F/T employment at once, it is updated accordingly.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:37 | 5179464 AssFire
AssFire's picture

How long will Texas pay for others while being repaid with 3rd world liabilities?

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:08 | 5179348 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

on the downside, thanks to the petroleum spike, the US will soon need to import water from Canada as every water table is destroyed and poisoned.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:08 | 5179351 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Expect that to reverse course in short order.  We're losing the "race to debase" to Draghi and the ECB.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:10 | 5179357 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Fast food workers expected to walk out in 150 cities:

 

Fast food workers take to the streets

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/were-movement-now-fast-foo...

 

Good luck with that. It's not like there aren't a dozen immigrants who are lined up to do your job.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:16 | 5179379 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

And with Obama poised to act unilaterally with an amnesty executive order (likely shortly after the elections) for millions of illegals, it's like the perfect storm coming for those poor, stupid sons of bitches.  They'll never know what hit 'em.  But they'll have plenty of time on the UE and Welfare lines to think about it.

 

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:20 | 5179387 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

If they could think they wouldn't be fast food workers.

Let them eat fries.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:56 | 5179523 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I never said they would figure it out, I just said they would have time to think about it.

What they'll never get to is this:  The guy in the WH, who they think is "on their side" is the one who shoved the knife in their back.  There's NO WAY they will ever put 2 and 2 together.  Even if they did, they're so deep in denial it wouldn't matter anyway.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:08 | 5179566 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Exactly.  I don't understand why they can't put two and two together and understand that immigration is about cheap labor and votes. But then again,  we are dealing with people who come from the public education system.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:25 | 5179406 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

It's pretty bad when entry level employment is now the only option for a working stiff, and that will be taken away sometime in the not too distant future. 

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:41 | 5179479 codecode
codecode's picture

We already eat out less... this will help that I'm sure...

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:56 | 5179511 krispkritter
krispkritter's picture

Fast Food Strike: The US loses a collective 5 Trillion tons of weight.  Continental land mass rises 5.2 inches, Global Warming sea level rise no longer an issue. Population breathes a collective sigh of relief and reaches for a comforting Happy Meal served by a robot... /s

 

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:58 | 5179531 edwardo1
edwardo1's picture

Fast food workers expected to walk out fast in 150 cities.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:11 | 5179363 ENTP
ENTP's picture

Only 40 billion?  Whew, that's only about $300/taxpayer; rates can never go up.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:17 | 5179383 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

The best part is, they send us real goods and services, we send them fiat paper in return (actually, ones and zeroes poofed into existance on a computer).  This is such a deal for the US, it's better than stealing.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:27 | 5179405 lester1
lester1's picture

Trade deficits DO matter. Globalization and job outsourcing is the reason why we have gigantic trade deficits.

Other countries like China and Germany have protectionist trade policies and tax foreign made goods at 19% with a VAT tax. USA does not, and thats why our economy is in the toilet and the middle class is disappearing.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:49 | 5179501 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

That's unimportant.  The illuminati are prospering.  That's all that matters.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:54 | 5179519 lester1
lester1's picture

Until there is a major economic crash, like one we have never seen before, and society breaks down.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:11 | 5179364 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen here now once Walmart expands everything will be better I promise.

Thursday, September 04, 2014 12:20 PM EDT

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Walmart de México y Centroamérica will participate in the 21st Annual Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference on September 3-4, 2014.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:20 | 5179380 lester1
lester1's picture

The gigantic trade deficit is a major reason for US economic problems.

All those red trade deficit numbers mean the USA is bleeding dollars. This is very unsustainable and is the hidden reason why the FED must print more dollars. If the FED stopped printing new dollars, Americans wouldn't have any. It would all be in the hands of overseas nations that produce and have trade surpluses.

Until the US government changes policy and reduces that trade deficit, we will NEVER have a real economic recovery!!

The FED can try every account gimmick, but it wont help the economy. Amazing how many ivy league "expert" economists fail to see this reality.

 

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:21 | 5179389 ejmoosa
ejmoosa's picture

No, the trade deficits is a sign of US economic problems.

 

The reason is the neverending creation of new rules, regulations, laws, minimum wage increases, and other efforts by government to tell businesses how they should and must operate.

Add to that oppresive business taxes, and of course it's cheaper to buy products from overseas.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:26 | 5179407 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen now. Are you considering margins?

At some point the margins will be so ruffled that prices cannot be pushed lower. Of course, the problem here is that pushing prices back up only further erodes volume. ALL of this is perfectly described by my "economies of scale in reverse."(™)

Demand will never come back around and prices will have to push becuase of eroding volume.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:01 | 5179549 ejmoosa
ejmoosa's picture

Are you saying that because consumers choose to get the biggest bang for their buck, they are the problem?

Why are they choosing to spend their dollars overseas?

Because the costs at home are so high.  How did they get that way?

Have you ever stopped to calculate how much a business pays to the government in terms of taxes, regulations, and other expenses before they even make their first dollar of profit?

 

Demand would come back just fine if we took off the regulatory handcuffs we have placed on US businesses.

Ask anyone in business, and government is in every part of it; government rules and regulations are part of every decision as to what you can and cannot do.

Now do you see any politicians working to make it less expensive for American businesses to operate? A simpler tax code?  A lower cost of energy?  Fewer rules and regulations?

No.

 

 

 

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:10 | 5179572 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Your 'merican dreams will soon violently crash into reality. Prepare with gold and bitcoins as Indians have been doing with gold for hundreds of years and bitcoin since 2008.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:27 | 5179418 lester1
lester1's picture

Ejmoosa, Ya but Germany does all those things you just mentioned, yet they still have a humming manufacturing sector and trade surpluses.

So how can that be ??

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:14 | 5179584 ejmoosa
ejmoosa's picture

So  by citing one country that has many rules and regulations, and happens to have a surplus today, that is the model to emulate? They have a surplus today despite those things.  But that will not last forever.

You see no benefit in reducing the burden in the US so that businesses could again take the risks and sustain profit margins?  

Let's eliminate the things dragging down the US business environment, and then we can see just how great the surpluses are in Germany.

 

Like I said, find anyone running a business in the US.  Ask them how much of their time is spent dealing with governement rules and regulations, and how much those things actually contribute to the success of their business.

The government is your not so silent partner, with 0% invested, and reaping more than 30% of your profits.

It's a damn good deal, for them.

 

 

 

 

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:55 | 5179863 lester1
lester1's picture

Even with high taxes, government regulations, and lots of unions Germany has a trade surplus. Why? Because their government has a 19% VAT tax on foreign made goods.

Germany proves protectionist trade policies work and benefit their country.

We need to have a similar trade policy if we ever want to have a REAL recovery.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 11:13 | 5179958 ejmoosa
ejmoosa's picture

...works in the short term.

The real key is to produce a product that someone else is willing to buy.

So why do Americans buy German autos?  Is it perceived quality? Bang for the buck?

And your answer is to force Americans to either pay more for a German product, or settle for an inferior American model?

 

Awesome solution.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:18 | 5179385 atomp
atomp's picture

So if GM channel stuffs the ports, and the dock hands just kick 'em off into the harbor... that counts as exports, right?

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:22 | 5179390 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Only until ExIm expires.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 09:40 | 5179476 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

'Trade'? I guess exporting inflation?

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:23 | 5179644 HUGE_Gamma
HUGE_Gamma's picture

why exclude oil? every time you mention inflation you add energy in. so why exclude a major natural resource from trade deficit?

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 10:51 | 5179838 Stormtrooper
Stormtrooper's picture

Germany financed the PIIGS  so that their consumers could buy German products.  Now, with austerity, the chickens have come home to roost in Germany and there is hell to pay.

Thu, 09/04/2014 - 11:00 | 5179886 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Once the ok Amnesty (Very soon), a flood of new illegals will flood in to replace the 11 million who recieved amnesty.

Why not? Free EBT, welfare, rent (section 8), education and cell phones.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!