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WASHINGTON: The US trade deficit widened to a record high in March as businesses boosted imports of goods ahead of tariffs, which dragged gross domestic product into negative terrain in the first quarter for the first time in three years.
The trade gap jumped 14 per cent to a record US$140.5 billion from a revised US$123.2 billion in February, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said on Tuesday (May 6).
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit rising to US$137.0 billion from the previously reported US$122.7 billion in February.
President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, including raising duties on Chinese imports to a staggering 145 per cent, fueled a rush by businesses to bring in merchandise to avoid higher costs.
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