JOC Staff | Feb 11, 2013 2:13PM EST
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, reported that for the full year of 2012, exports of $2.2 trillion and imports of $2.7 trillion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $540.4 billion, which is $19.5 billion less than the 2011 deficit of $559.9 billion.
The goods deficit was $735.7 billion, $2.7 billion less than the 2011 deficit of $738.4 billion. The services surplus was $195.3 billion, $16.8 billion more than the 2011 surplus of $178.5 billion.
As a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product, the goods and services deficit was 3.4 percent in 2012, compared with 3.7 percent in 2011.
“The U.S. trade deficit in goods with the world was $735.7 billion last year, a minor decrease of less than 1/100th of a percent, but our trade deficit with China reached a historic high of $315 billion,” warned Leo W. Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers, in a written statement about the high U.S. trade deficit with China.
In 2012, among the major exports markets, the countries with the largest annualized increase in U.S. goods purchases, when compared to 2009, occurred in Panama, Chile, Russia, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Turkey and Columbia, according to the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
