The Trade Deficit Just Jumped by Almost 20%

The US trade deficit for November reached $80.2 billion, a near-record and almost 20% jump from October. According to Breitbart, which reported on the trade deficit disaster:

In October, it had fallen to a revised $67.2 billion. Analysts had forecast a much smaller gap of $71.6 billion.

Imports into the U.S. jumped 4.6 percent to $304.4 billion while U.S. exports slinked up a mere 0.2 percent to $224.4 billion.

The goods deficit jumped 18 percent to a record $98.99 billion. The services surplus grew 12.7 percent to $18.1 billion.

ABC adds more detail on how the November number fits into the overall picture, writing that:

November imports, goods Americans bought from other countries, jumped 4.% to $304.4 billion in November while exports, those the U.S. sends overseas, edged up a scant 0.2% to $224.2 billion.

Through the first 11 months of 2021, the U.S. trade deficit is 28.6% higher than during the same period last year with the economic recovery in the United States outpacing other nations, as is the readiness of Americans to spend.

Still, despite jumping massively from October, the November deficit was still smaller than the gigantic $81.4 billion September trade deficit.

However, that small decrease from the incredibly high September number is likely only there because of tourism, with the relevant category being $2.7 billion higher. It wasn’t increased production of goods that helped, but rather foreign tourists.

The problem is that a lack of substantial tariffs means that, though the American economy has somewhat recovered from the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, much of the money pumped into the economy has leaked out into foreign economies rather than remaining at home.

Were the tariffs more substantial, had Biden kept many of the Trump-era tariffs that he instead did away with, then perhaps the deficit would not be so large and the real American economy would be strengthened. Instead, American dollars continue flowing en masse to foreign countries, especially our Red Chinese enemies. As ABC reports:

The politically sensitive deficit with China in goods rose 2.9% to $32.3 billion in November and is up 12.8% for the first 11 months of this year compared to the same period in 2020

What does that trade deficit represent? Not just a leeching of American dollars to foreign competitors, but also a drag on the economy, as it will limit growth by slowing the amount of money flowing to American, rather than Chinese, businesses.

By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.