US trade deficit jumps in December
America's shortfall in trade with the rest of the world widened at the end of 2017 as imports continued to run ahead of exports, boosted by strong domestic demand.
The total US foreign trade deficit increased by 5.3% month-on-month in December to reach $53.1bn, according to the Department of Commerce.
Economists had penciled in a reading of -$52.1bn.
Nonetheless, according to Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics, the 20.5% annualised surge in imports of goods ex-oil and aircraft observed during the fourth quarter would not be sustained.
Export growth was also still lagging behind the ISM's export orders sub-index, he explained.
"[...] with imports likely to rise les quickly over the next few months, net foreign trade will be much less of a drag on GDP growth than in Q1. Today's data, though, implied that the GDP drag in Q4 from trade will be revised to -1.19 percentage points from -1.13pp."
The goods deficit was the chief factor driving Tuesday's worse-than-expected print, widening by 3.7% to $73.3bn, while the services surplus dipped by 0.1% to $20.2bn.
Within the former, imports of goods jumped by $6.0bn to reach $210.8bn, led by increases of $1.8bn in purchases of pharmaceutical preparations from overseas, of $1.7bn in those of cell phones and other household goods, of $1.1bn in passenger cars and of $0.8bn in capital goods.