The U.S. trade deficit hit a ten-year-high in October.<br />The U.S. Commerce Department revealed on Thursday that imports outpaced exports by more than 55 billion dollars.<br />Lee Seung-jae reports. <br /> With U.S. soybean exports dropping further and imports of consumer goods rising to a record high,... the U.S. trade deficit soared to a high not seen in a decade in October.<br />The trade deficit was up one-point-seven percent on-year,... standing at 55-point-five billion U.S. dollars.<br />That's the highest since October 2008.<br /> The majority of the deficit came from China and the European Union.<br />The U.S. trade deficit with China spiked seven-point-one percent to a record 43-point-one billion dollars. <br />The trade gap with the EU widened a staggering 65-and-a-half percent to a record 17-point-six billion dollars.<br />Led by shipments of medicine and automobiles,... overall import numbers rose zero-point-two percent to a record 266-point-five billion dollars,... while exports edged down zero-point-one percent to 211 billion.<br /> President Trump campaigned on a pledge to slash America's longstanding trade deficit with the rest of the world by slapping import taxes on steel, aluminum and Chinese goods. <br />However, the deficit so far this year is running almost eleven-and-a-half percent above January to October of 2017.<br /> However, economists view the trade deficit as the result of a stronger U.S. economy,... as Americans are buying more foreign products. <br />At the same time, Americans buy more than they produce,... with imports filling the gap.<br /> U.S. exports are also being hurt by the American dollar's role as the world's currency. <br />With the strong greenback,... comes the rise in prices of U.S. products,... putting American companies at a disadvantage in foreign markets.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News. <br />
