US trade gap falls 15% to $51.1B in Jan.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The U.S. trade deficit tumbled nearly 15 percent in January as imports fell and exports rose. Shipments of American goods to China skidded to the lowest level in more than eight years as the world’s two biggest economies remained locked in a trade war.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the gap between the goods and services that the United States sells and what it buys from other countries dropped by 14.6 percent to $51.1 billion in January from $59.9 billion in December. Exports rose 0.9 percent to $207.3 billion, and imports dropped 2.6 percent to $258.5 billion.

The deficit in the trade of goods with China narrowed by 6.4 percent to $34.5 billion. U.S. goods exports to China dropped 22.3 percent to $7.1 billion, lowest since September 2010; Chinese imports dropped 9.6 percent to $41.6 billion.

The Trump administration has imposed taxes on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, and the Chinese have retaliated by targeting about $110 billion in American products.

The two countries are sparring over American allegations that China steals trade secrets and coerces U.S. companies to hand over sensitive technology in a sharp-elbowed campaign to make Chinese companies world leaders in advanced industries.