Last year, the trade deficit eased by Zuzana Krskova

U.S. trade deficit dropped down in 2007 after setting records for five consecutive years. Thursday, the Commerce Department declared that the deficit declined to $711.6 billion last year, a drop of 6.2 percent. The trade deficit with China was the largest gap ever recorded with a single country. It was rising, jumping by 10.2 percent to $256.3 billion. The reason was that Chinese imports surged despite a string of high-profile recalls of tainted products. "These numbers provide further evidence of China's consistent and deliberate efforts to violate our trade laws by doing everything from placing tariffs on our auto parts to misaligning their currency," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. "There is no doubt, this unfair trade hurts American Businesses and hurts middle-class families." Lawmakers want to impose economic sanctions on China. They say, China is using unfair practiced like manipulating its currency to keeps its value low compare to dollar. It causes, that Chinese goods are cheaper in U.S. market and American goods are more expensive overseas. The deficit fell by 6.9 percent to $58.8 billion for December. It was unexpected plus to close out the year. Dollar decrease over past two years has helped to start strong increases in U.S. exports. Now, American goods are cheaper and more competitive in overseas markets now. The Labor Department reported the number of newly discharged workers filling claims for unemployment benefits fell by 9,000 to 348,000 last week. That was larger that it was expected by analysts. A World Trade Organization received complains from United States, European Union and Canada addressed to China's tax policies. They are claiming that China's taxes on auto imports are an unfair barrier against imports. $1.62 trillion is a number of last year's export, with an increase of 12.7 percent from 2006 with sales of American farm products, capital goods and autos and auto parts. The deficit with China is $256.3 billion, with Canada $64.2 billion, with Mexico $74.3 billion and with European Union $107.4 billion.

by Zuzana Krskova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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