WASHINGTON – The deficit in the broadest measure of US trade rose to the highest level in more than eight years this spring, reflecting in part a drop in fines and penalties paid by foreign companies.
The deficit in the current account increased to $123.1 billion, up 8.5 percent from an imbalance of $113.5 billion in the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the biggest deficit since a gap of $150 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The current account is the most complete measure of trade because it includes not only goods and services but investment flows and other payments between the United States and the world.
President Donald Trump has promised to reduce America’s trade deficit, contending it costs US factory jobs.
One of the biggest contributing factors to the larger deficit in the April-June quarter was a decline in receipts from foreigners after they had risen sharply in the first quarter. The government attributed the $5.2 billion decrease in receipts of secondary income from foreigners to a decline in fines and penalties paid by foreign companies. That category had risen sharply in the first quarter.
Exports of goods and services increased $2.2 billion in the second quarter. Exports are getting a lift from a pickup in global growth and a drop in the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies. A weaker dollar makes American products more competitive on foreign markets.