The United States trade deficit increase by 1.7% in October to $63.1 billion, according to Department of Commerce data reported by the Associated Press.
The US trade deficit with China increased by 9% to $26.5 billion and the trade deficit with Mexico rose by 10% to $11.8 billion, despite repeated claims by lame duck president Donald Trump that his policies would eliminate trade deficits. The trade deficit does not include the billions in subsidies the Trump Administration issued to help industries impacted by Trump’s trade war.
The year-to-date trade deficit is $536.7 billion, up 9.5% from the same period last year.