USA – biggest monthly decline in exports ever recorded

• The U.S. trade deficit widened by almost 12% in March as the coronavirus pandemic grounded international flights, froze the global tourism industry and caused massive disruptions in the exchange of goods such as new cars and iPhones.
• Imports fell 6.2%, but U.S. exports tumbled an even deeper 9.6% to cause the trade gap to rise. It’s the biggest monthly decline in exports ever recorded.
• The U.S. deficit rose to $44.4 billion in March from $39.8 billion in February, the government said Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a $44.2 billion shortfall. The U.S. exported fewer cars, aircraft parts and barrels of petroleum in March.
• Notably, exports of services such as banking and tourism sank nearly $11 billion to $59.6 billion. Normally services rarely change much month to month, but the plunge in March shows just how much damage has been caused by the coronavirus.

Source: MarketWatch

 

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