Washington | The US trade deficit widened to a record high in January amid front-loading of imports ahead of tariffs, suggesting that trade could be a drag on economic growth in the first quarter.
The trade gap surged 34 per cent to an all-time high of $US131.4 billion ($207 billion) from a revised $US98.1 billion in December, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday (Friday AEDT). The percentage change was the largest since March 2015.
