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TRADE WARS
Rising US exports shrink trade deficit; China imports fall
By Douglas Gillison
Washington (AFP) Sept 4, 2019

US slaps fresh duties on Chinese, Mexican steel goods
Washington (AFP) Sept 4, 2019 - Washington on Wednesday announced new import duties on more than $1 billion in imported structural steel from China and Mexico, saying manufacturers in those countries dumped product on the US market.

The Commerce Department's findings, which are preliminary and could be reversed, follow a similar decision in June concerning Chinese alloy aluminum imports valued at nearly $1 billion.

Chinese and Mexican producers allegedly dumped fabricated structural steel -- such as I-beams, rods and joists -- at margins of between 0 percent and 141.4 percent, the Commerce Department said.

The department said it had rejected such allegations concerning similar products from Canada, however.

The findings were the result of a complaint lodged in February by members of the American Institute of Steel Construction in Chicago.

The decision comes after President Donald Trump in May agreed to lift punitive duties on steel from Mexico, which joined the United States and Canada in negotiating a new North American trade pact last year.

Last year, Mexican and Chinese imports of structural steel were together valued at $1.6 billion.

A final determination by the Commerce Department is due early in 2020.

If the preliminary findings are upheld, the duty increases could still be reversed by the US International Trade Commission, which examines whether the imports have harmed a US industry.

A bump in US exports helped shrink America's yawning trade deficit in July while imports from China continued to fall amid the two nations' trade war, government data showed Wednesday.

The relatively steady deficit comes as hopes dim for a near-term resolution to the US-China conflict, which has begun to rattle the American economy.

Economists said Wednesday the trade gap is likely to widen in the coming months as demand for US manufacturing exports weakens further, creating a drag on the economy.

The US trade gap in July narrowed by 2.7 percent to $54 billion, the largest drop in five months, as the United States exported more automobiles, medications, aircraft and oil drilling equipment, the Commerce Department said.

Economists had been expecting an even bigger decline.

Imports from China, the prime target of President Donald Trump's multi-pronged trade offensive launched last year, fell 1.9 percent to $39 billion, their lowest level since April.

Mexico and the European Union appear to have picked up some of the slack, as the US deficit with both markets continued to rise.

Overall, exports rose 0.6 percent to $207.4 billion -- which still left them below last year's level through July. Imports fell 0.1 percent to $261.4 billion.

Trump this week fired off stern warnings to Beijing and has planned successive waves of tariff increases through the end of the year covering the vast majority of Chinese imports into the US. Negotiations to resolve the conflict have yet to resume.

- A 'grim' outlook -

The deficit -- which is the difference between what the United States exports and what it imports -- has widened so far this year by more than eight percent.

But Trump has long viewed deficits as a defeat for the United States, arguing that they amount to stealing. These assertions are rejected by most economists.

And, despite his efforts to cut the deficit, it has continued to rise during his presidency as a growing economy, hungry for goods and services, steadily increased imports.

Weak commodities prices hit US exports for the month, as the value of crude oil, coal, fuel oil and other petroleum products fell.

Meanwhile, US services imports, such as tourism and software royalties, hit a record $49.6 billion, eating into an area where America normally enjoys a healthy surplus.

Wall Street was little moved by the numbers, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 240 points shortly as traders rallied on positive signs in Hong Kong's political turmoil.

Macroeconomic Advisors said the latest trade numbers shaved three tenths of a percentage point off their third-quarter GDP estimate, which now stands at two percent.

Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said the July lull appeared to be the "calm before the storm."

An August survey of US manufacturers showed export orders had fallen to a 10-year low, meaning "the next few months are likely to see a serious rollover in exports," he said in a note to clients.

The hit to GDP growth in the third quarter will likely be "modest," he added, "but the outlook is grim."


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