Supply Chain Research

The U.S. trade-in-goods deficit climbed 12% on a year earlier in July to reach $72 billion, confirming the trend shown by marine shipments and trade prices. The growth in imports was the fastest since February, even excluding energy, indicating the wide-ranging tariffs on Chinese exports have yet to suppress activity. The first challenge to Trump administration policy emerging from the data is that exports climbed by just 4% ex-energy. That was the weakest since October 2017 and included a slowdown in agriculture export growth that may reflect retaliatory duties against 390 products. The...