主题：【消息】美国贸易赤字又创历史纪录 -- Highway

如果加上12月份的数字，美国2004年全年的贸易赤字将突破6000亿美元，为美国历史之最。

最近美元疲软，人们普遍认为美国出口会有所增加，进口会略微减少，贸易赤字会小幅下跌。但数字一出来，人们还是大跌眼镜。美国贸易赤字11月，12月继续攀升。11月单月就突破了600亿美元，令人瞠目结舌。毫不例外的，华尔街股市顿时应声下跌！

顺便一提，美国的国债现在是多少呢？大约是7万6千亿美元。用数字表达就是：

并且涨势正旺，每天以21.7亿美元的速度在增加。面对这些数字，你有何感想？

[SIZE=3]U.S. Trade Deficit Soars to All-Time High of $60.3 Billion in Nov., Reflecting Record Import Levels[/SIZE]

The Commerce Department said the November deficit was up 7.7 percent from an imbalance of $56 billion in October, which had been the previous monthly record. The new record caught private economists by surprise. They had been forecasting a slight narrowing in the November trade gap.

"This caught a lot of us by surprise. We had been anticipating a pull back in the November deficit because of a decline in the price of oil," said Jason Schenker, an economist at Wachovia Bank in Charlotte, N.C.

The trade deficit through November totaled $561.3 billion, far above the previous annual record of $496.5 billion set in 2003, and put the country on track to record a trade imbalance topping $600 billion when the December figures are added.

The November deficit reflected record imbalances with a number of countries including Canada, South Korea and Russia. The largest deficit as usual was with China, although the $16.6 billion gap was down slightly from October.

Critics point to the yawning deficits as evidence that President Bush's trade policies are not working. Democrats contend that the administration has not done enough to protect American workers from unfair competition from low-wage foreign countries such as China.

The administration counters that the trade gap is primarily a reflection of a U.S. economy that has been growing faster than most of the rest of the world.

"Our economy is the economic engine for world growth. Our economy is growing faster than many across the world," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Wednesday after the report's release. "Because of that prosperity, Americans are shopping in the global marketpalce, buying more goods and services than other countries which are not growing as fast. Just as we have taken steps here to strengthen our economy and increase growth, it's important for other world economies to grow as well."

Private economists are concerned, nevertheless, about whether America will have the ability to continue to finance trade deficits at such high levels.

If foreigners suddenly decide that they do not want to hold dollars in payment for the foreign goods that American consumers love to purchase, it could put added downward pressure on the American currency, which has been declining in value against a number of other currencies for the past three years.

The administration insists it still favors a strong dollar policy although it has done nothing to slow the greenback's decline, a drop that economists believe eventually will help to narrow the trade gap by making U.S. products cheaper on overseas markets and imports more expensive in the United States.

U.S. exports, which had been rising for much of the year, suffered a setback in November, falling 2.3 percent to $66.5 billion. It was the first decline in five months and reflected a drop in shipments of U.S. autos and auto parts, civilian aircraft, telecommunications equipment and industrial machinery.

Overseas sales of American farm products, for years a star performer among American exports, slipped by 1.7 percent to $4.7 billion with shipments of fruit, soybeans and vegetables all showing declines. The country is on track to record a deficit in farm goods this year as imports are running above exports through November, reflecting a surge in consumer demand for foreign wines, fruits and other foods.

Imports in November rose 1.3 percent to an all-time high of $155.8 billion. This increase was led by an 11.8 percent jump in petroleum products, which hit a monthly record of $19.4 billion.

The increase in America's foreign oil bill reflected higher volume. The average price of crude oil dipped a bit to $41.15 per barrel, compared to $41.79 in October.

With individual countries, the deficit with Canada, America's largest trading partner, hit a record high of $7.3 billion. The deficit with South Korea rose to a record $2.3 billion while the deficit with Russia increased to $1.3 billion. The deficit with Japan rose to $7.3 billion, which was the highest level since October 2000.