The US trade balance deficit came out within expectations, 42.2 billion in comparison with 42.7 expected.
However, as with Greece and China, the devil is in the details.
And the details are weak, showing that exports are at the lowest level since February and imports (somewhat reflecting American consumption), are at the lowest since April 2011.
This data shows once again that global trade is falling. One of the causes is that people are buying more local products and less imported ones, reducing the carbon footprint. Yet this is likely only a very small part of the story.
This drop in trade is much more related to a global slowdown: weak economies in the West, and less hunger for commodities in the emerging markets.
2013 may see more of the same, at least in the first half. Hopes are that the US could resolve the fiscal cliff in a good manner and that Europe will finally sort out its problems: place the troubled countries back in a path of growth.
Further reading: A different holiday trading environment – courtesy of the fiscal cliff
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