The latest monthly U.S. trade figures were released this morning by the Department of Commerce:
- The monthly U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services rose to $48.7 billion in November, up from $42.1 billion in October.
- The monthly goods deficit with China continues to assume massive proportions, clocking in at $29.0 billion in November, down just slightly from an all-time record of $29.5 billion in October.
Through November 2012, the annual U.S. goods trade deficit with China stands at $290 billion, poised to shatter 2011's record $295 billion mark.
Said Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM):
"Despite talk of a manufacturing renaissance, we will shatter 2011's record $295 billion annual trade deficit with China when the data for December comes in next month. The United States recorded a $29 billion bilateral trade deficit with China in November alone, bringing us to a $290 billion trade deficit with China so far in 2012.
"A recent study by Justin Pierce and Peter Schott ('The Surprisingly Swift Decline of U.S. Manufacturing Employment') confirmed what we have known for some time: our trade deficit with China is draining manufacturing jobs from the United States. Unless we take aggressive steps to act in our own national interest, manufacturing in America will never reach its full potential. That means aggressive trade enforcement and ending China’s currency manipulation and other market-distorting practices.
"I want to see reshoring accelerate from a trickle to a trend. We won’t get there unless trade with China comes into balance."