-->U.S. trade deficit climbs to $41.84 billion in May
Friday July 11, 8:38 am ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's trade deficit, on track to set an all-time high this year, edged up slightly to $41.84 billion in May as imports of foreign cars, televisions and business equipment all showed big gains.
The Commerce Department reported Friday that the May imbalance rose by 0.5 percent from the April deficit of $41.65 billion even though U.S. exports posted their best gain since January with shipments of American-made autos and auto parts, computer chips and industrial machinery all showing gains.
For the first five months of this year, the U.S. trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $492 billion, well above last year's record high of $418 billion.
Critics point to the soaring deficit as evidence that the Bush administration is pursuing a failed trade strategy that has furthered the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs as U.S. companies have closed their American factories and moved production overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor.
The administration, however, insists that the rising trade deficit reflects bigger economic forces, namely the fact that the U.S. economy, while mired in an anemic economic recovery, is still growing faster than the rest of the world.
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