WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by almost 10% in May and this could help the second quarter look a lot better than expected. The trade gap fell 9.8% to $26.0 billion in May, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. This is the lowest level since November 1999. Exports revived a bit due to the slumping dollar and export demand from China. Economists were blindsided by the improvement. They had expected the familiar pattern during this recession to continue with the deficit widening to $29.4 billion. The surprise improvement could mean second-quarter gross domestic product will be much less negative than expected.
Our deficits expand when Americans are buying shit from China and Malaysia that they don't need. The fact the trade balance has shrunk so dramatically is due to the fact Americans aren't buying shit they don't need.
Well I don't. The problem in the US for the last 20 years was that wealth was shipped out the country, and all we got was cheap interest rates as a result. Any trade gap narrowing is good for this economy.
1) Dollars were shipped out, not "wealth". 2) "We" got goods in exchange for depreciating money. That's a good "trade" for the US. 3) If you believe a narrowing of the trade gap is good for the economy, you're wrongly assuming/hoping that US exports are going to increase.