US runs foreign trade deficit of $70.4B in August

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US international trade deficit was at $70.4 billion in August, decreasing by $8.5 billion or 10.8% from July, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed on Tuesday.

The country's exports totaled $271.8 billion in August, going up 2% month-on-month, the bureau stated in a statement.

Meanwhile, the US imports amounted to $342.2 billion in the month, down by 0.9% on a monthly basis.

"The August decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $8.4 billion to $94.9 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.1 billion to $24.4 billion," the bureau said.

The average goods and services gap dropped $1.6 billion to $74.1 billion for the three months ending in August.