Last year's trade deficit in the United States reached a record high, up 5.9% from the previous year.
This is due to a significant decrease in exports due to the impact of the new coronavirus.
According to trade statistics released by the US Department of Commerce on the 5th, the trade deficit for the last year excluding services was 904.9 billion dollars, an increase of 5.9% from the previous year, and about 95 trillion yen in Japanese yen.
The deficit amount is higher than the average level and is the largest ever.
This was due to the stagnation of economic activity in the first half of last year, which was affected by the spread of the new coronavirus, and while imports decreased by 6.4%, exports decreased by 12.8%, resulting in a large deficit. Is a bulging shape.
China had the largest trade deficit by country, and although the deficit decreased due to an increase in exports of agricultural products due to the trade agreement that came into effect last year, it still accounts for one-third of the total.
Vietnam has emerged in second place, overtaking neighboring countries Mexico and Japan and Germany in third place, demonstrating that there is a growing movement to avoid China, which is subject to high tariffs, and increase imports from Vietnam.
The Biden administration in the United States has indicated that it will give preferential treatment to domestic products in order to increase employment, but it is likely that future focus will be on reducing the expanding trade deficit.