Rising U.S. Trade Deficit for March 2012

The U.S. trade deficit has widened to $US 50 billion in March 2012. The trendline since 2009 up till now has been pointing to widening trade deficits (Chart 1).

Imports were probably higher due to more expensive oil imports, while exports have slumped (Chart 2).

Chart 1: U.S. Balance of Trade

Chart 2: U.S. exports

Incidentally, the U.S. dollar cash index is again pointing down just recently (Chart 3), despite problems in Europe. The dollar index spot (DXY) is currently at 79.5. If this index continues to fall, I predict that imports will go up even more in the future as the U.S. dollar loses purchasing power. Accompanied by the devaluation of the U.S. dollar, will be an ever more rising trade deficit.

Chart 3: Dollar Cash Index