Briefing.com: Trade Balance

Updated: 05-Oct-17 09:22 ET

August Trade Balance

Updated: 05-Oct-17 09:22 ET

Highlights

The Trade Balance report for August showed a narrowing in the deficit to $42.4 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$42.6 billion) from $43.6 billion in July, as exports were $0.8 billion more than July exports while imports were $0.4 billion less than July imports.

Key Factors

The export increase was led by a $1.02 billion increase in exports of consumer goods, the bulk of which was owed to pharmaceutical preparations and gem diamonds
Exports of industrial supplies dropped by $0.95 billion, which was tied in large part to a $0.72 billion decline in exports of fuel oil
Imports of industrial supplies and materials fell by $0.5 billion while imports of capital goods, except automotive, declined by $0.5 billion
The deficit with China decreased by $2.1 billion to $29.7 billion in August

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that it suggests net exports will remain a positive contributor to third quarter GDP forecasts. To that end, the third quarter real trade deficit average of $61.8 billion is roughly 1% below the second quarter average.