WASHINGTON: The US trade gap widened in November according to government data released Tuesday, as imports rose faster than exports ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. With Trump set to take office later this month, trade imbalances in the world’s biggest economy could again come under the spotlight. In his first term, Trump engaged in a tit-for-tat tariffs war with China, the world’s second biggest economy — with an eye on shrinking the trade gap between both countries.

In November, the US trade deficit rose 6.2 percent to $78.2 billion, said the Commerce Department on Tuesday. This was slightly more than the $77.9 billion figure expected by a Briefing.com consensus forecast, and marked a widening from October’s revised $73.6 billion figure.

Imports grew 3.4 percent to $351.6 billion, driven by goods shipments with increases seen in areas ranging from industrial supplies to semiconductors and passenger cars. US exports, meanwhile, also rose by 2.7 percent to $273.4 billion in November, said the report. Exports of industrial supplies such as crude oil and other petroleum products picked up, alongside those of autos and pharmaceutical preparations. Among countries and regions, the US goods deficit with China stood at $25.4 billion, while that with the European Union was $20.5 billion in November, said the Commerce Department.

Strong growth seen in domestic spending indicators should carry through to fourth quarter gross domestic product results, said Carl Weinberg and Mary Chen of High Frequency Economics in a note.

“Everyone should revise their estimate for fourth quarter GDP growth higher after this report,” they said. While “there is scant evidence in this report that companies are actually accelerating imports to beat Trump Day One import threats,” the analysts cautioned that the president-elect has threatened new tariffs.

“We might expect an uptick in imports from Canada, Mexico and China in the next round of data for December,” the analysts said. Looking ahead, importers are likely eyeing negotiations involving a US dockworkers’ union as they try to reach agreement on a new labor contract with their employer group before a January 15 deadline.

If both sides cannot reach a deal, there could be a new workers’ strike — threatening supply chains.

Meanwhile, activity in the US services sector picked up the pace last month, boosted by strong business activity and supplier deliveries, according to survey data published Tuesday. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) services rose to 54.1 percent in December, from 52.1 percent a month earlier — indicating that activity in the sector is continuing to expand.

This was above the market consensus of 53.0, according to Briefing.com. The rise came primarily from the “strength in the Business Activity and Supplier Deliveries indexes,” ISM survey chair Steve Miller said in a statement. “Many industries noted that end-of-year and seasonal factors were helping drive business activity or impact inventory management,” he continued.

Miller added that at least some of the increased business activity “seems to have been driven by preparation for demand in the new year, or risk management for impacts from ports strikes and potential tariffs.” US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on imports coming into the United States, a move that many economists have said could impact both growth and inflation.

“There was general optimism expressed across many industries, but tariff concerns elicited the most panelist comments,” Miller said. Nine services industries reported growth in December, including the index for entertainment and recreation. Six contracted, including forestry, fishing and hunting. — AFP