Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Deficit Disaster Looms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in December and grew 6.5% during all of 2006 to a record $763.6 billion, a Commerce Department report showed Tuesday. Despite setting a record, the growth in the trade deficit slowed in 2006 from the blistering 17.3% pace in 2005. The politically sensitive trade gap with China expanded 15.4% to a record $232.5 billion in 2006, despite record U.S. exports to that country of $55.2 billion. Imports from China surged 18.2% to a record $287.8 billion, ensuring that concerns about China's exchange rate and other government policies, which U.S. lawmakers and manufacturers believe unfairly aid Chinese companies, will remain a hot political topic in 2007. The United States also ran record trade deficits with Japan and Mexico in 2006.

The annual trade deficit has set a record for five consecutive years, a development the Bush administration attributes to the fact that the U.S. economy has been growing more rapidly than the rest of the world. The administration argues that American consumers have benefited from the flood of cheaper imports, a development which has helped to hold down inflation. But critics contend the deficits are a reflection of a flawed trade policy that has failed to protect American workers from unfair foreign competition.

  • JJ Commentary: Someday all these deficits (including the federal budget and consumer debt) will come home to roost. These trade policies have not only failed to protect U.S. workers, but have purposely encouraged globalism, as promulgated by the New World (Dis)Order folks.

1 comment:

jakejacobsen said...

Hey Chief,

We're starting a new anti-illegal immigration blogburst. If you're interested you can find more info and see the burst here...

http://freedomfolks.blogspot.com/2007/02/blogs-for-borders-video-blogburst.html

Thanks,
Jake