China News Agency, Washington, May 4 (Reporter Sha Hanting) The U.S. Department of Commerce released data on the 4th local time, showing that the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in March increased by 22.3% month-on-month to $109.8 billion, a record high.
Data show that in March, the value of imports of goods and services to the United States increased by 10.3% month-on-month to $351.5 billion, a record high; the value of exports of goods and services increased by 5.6% month-on-month to $241.7 billion.
In the month, the U.S. merchandise trade deficit increased by $20.4 billion month-on-month to $128.1 billion.
Among them, the value of imports of goods rose sharply to 298.8 billion US dollars.
U.S. crude oil imports rose to $16.96 billion in March, the highest since December 2014, amid a surge in global oil prices caused by the conflict in Russia and Ukraine.
According to data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on April 28, the U.S. economy shrank by 1.4% in the first quarter.
Among them, net exports dragged down economic growth by 3.2 percentage points in the quarter, marking the seventh consecutive quarterly decline in this indicator.
Analysts cited high inflation, supply chain issues and strong U.S. consumer demand for imported goods as the main reasons for the record trade deficit in March.
Economists believe that as the new crown epidemic, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and supply chain problems will continue to affect global trade, it will be difficult to change the inflation trend of the US trade deficit in the short term, and net exports will continue to drag on the US economic growth for some time to come.
In response to high inflation, the Federal Reserve announced on the 4th that it will raise the target range of the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to the level of 0.75% to 1%.
This is the largest rate hike by the Fed since 2000.
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