Supply Chain Research

In a politically fortuitous turn of events, the U.S. trade deficit dropped to its lowest in 19 months in September, and was 4% below economists’ expectations. A reversal from August was the result of intellectual property associated with the Olympics, but goods imports also dropped on lower prices despite growth in seaborne shipments. Preliminary seaborne figures for October suggests goods imports will be broadly unchanged, Panjiva data shows.