A trade deficit at its lowest since Covid, record exports: 2023 was a good year in international trade for the United States.
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To complete this picture, Mexico is now their first partner, ahead of China, a key issue in the race for the White House.
The negative balance between products and services imported by the United States and exported internationally decreased 18.7% to $773.4 billion in 2023 compared to 2022, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The deficit fell to its lowest level since 2020, when international trade came to a standstill due to Covid-19.
In detail, the United States exported goods and services worth $3,053.5 billion in 2023, a record level and an increase of 1.2% compared to 2022.
Imports fell 3.6% to $3,826.9 billion.
President Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term in the White House, will undoubtedly welcome these numbers.
Since his election, he has made major investments aimed at bringing production of electric car batteries, semiconductors and even solar panels back to the United States.
However, he did not return to the tariff increases on many Chinese products introduced by his predecessor Donald Trump.
And as a new duel between the two men looms in November's presidential election, international trade, particularly with China, is one of the key issues.
Mexico before China
Donald Trump, who launched a trade war against the Middle Kingdom in his first term, plans to impose 60% tariffs on products imported from China if re-elected in November.
He also mentioned a general tariff of 10% on all imports.
The year 2023 is also the year that Mexico robbed China of its position as the United States' leading trading partner, which it had held for more than 20 years.
The Asian giant actually sold goods and services worth $427.2 billion (down $109.1 billion compared to 2022), compared to $475.6 billion (up $20.8 billion). dollars) in Mexico.
Officials from the U.S. and Chinese Treasury departments met in Beijing this week for the third meeting of the economic working group set up by the two countries in October to try to strengthen relations strained by many problems.
Washington had noted that it had “addressed issues of concern, including China’s industrial policy practices and overcapacity,” while Beijing in particular “expressed concerns about additional tariffs that the United States has imposed on China.”
However, in December alone, the U.S. trade deficit rose 0.5% to $62.2 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $62 billion, according to Briefing.com consensus.
“The outlook for future trade flows is likely muted as demand and growth are expected to slow at home and abroad,” commented Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.