Washington, D.C. — The United States goods trade deficit dropped to $1,061.7 billion in 2023, a 10.3% decrease from 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said:
“The trade deficit in goods narrowed in 2023, and unlike the last steep drop during the Great Recession, the reasons are mostly good ones. What makes this reduction even more significant is that it occurred despite a strong dollar and a domestic economy that outpaced almost every other nation. But the trade deficit is still too high, and new challenges are being uncovered.
“While imports from China declined precipitously, they have picked up from countries such as Mexico and India. Some of this shift represents production leaving China due to nearshoring or supply chain diversification, while a significant chunk is due to Chinese companies moving finishing operations to both avoid U.S. tariffs and gain preferential access under trade agreements to which China is not a party. This development underscores the need for policy changes to counter ‘circumvention’ of trade enforcement actions, including anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases. We must also ensure that China is unable to exploit the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.”
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