Trade Deficit Drops to 8-Month Low as Exports Surge
American companies shipped record amounts of machines, cars and planes to overseas buyers in March, a surge that overcame increased imports of oil to push the U.S. trade deficit down to $8.9 billion, its lowest level in eight months, the government reported yesterday.</br></br>The surprisingly strong trade showingÛÓthe $1 billion decrease dropped the deficit by nearly 10 percent from the month beforeÛÓdrove the value of the dollar upward on international currency markets [Story on Page E3], If the dollarÛªs months-long climb continues, economists fear the trade deficit will turn upward as a higher dollar raises the cost of U.S. goods overseas, making them less competitive.</br></br>trade figures," said Howard Lewis, vice president for international and economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).</br></br>"The good news is that most of the improvement resulted from record levels of U.S. exports. The bad news is that foreign imports grew by about 3 percent despite slow domestic spending."</br></br>But the Busli administration hailed the trade figures, with Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher noting that the deficit for the first three months of this year was 10 percent smaller than it was in the last three months of 1988. Based on figures for the first three months, the 1989 trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $109.4 billion, a slight improvement over last yearÛªs $119.8 billion deficit.