The US trade deficit grew larger
US exports rose for many trading partners at the beginning of the year, regardless of the second corona wave. They increased by 1.0 percent compared to the previous month to just under 192 billion dollars (160 billion euros), as the US Department of Commerce announced on Friday. This slowed the pace, however: In December there was still an increase of 3.4 percent. The imports grew in January by 1.2 to more than 260 billion dollars.
This increased the deficit in the US trade balance. It totaled $ 68.2 billion at the start of the year. The chances of an upturn in export business in the further course of the year are not bad. Experts anticipate significantly better world trade after the corona year 2020. However, the prerequisite for this is that the pandemic is brought under control.
According to a study by the Ifo Institute, the United States held a share of around 8.5 percent of trade in goods last year. They were clearly behind China (14.5 percent), but still ahead of Germany (8 percent).
