In April, the trade balance deficit fell to $50,06 billion. In March it was 52,62 billion. The reduction of the deficit is lower than the expectations of analysts who expected a drop to 49,4 billion.
Both exports and imports are down. In fact, exports recorded a drop of 0,8% to 182,91 billion while imports decreased by 1,7% to 232,97 billion. The contraction, which follows recent highs, confirms that the US economy is feeling the effects of the global slowdown and of Europe in particular.
In particular, in trade with the euro area, exports recorded a drop of 9,8% while imports fell by 11,2%. The trade deficit with the euro area thus fell by 14,1% to 7,56 billion. On the contrary, the deficit with China continues to grow, +13,3% to 24,55 billion dollars, following a drop in exports of 14% and an increase in imports of 4,8%.
