AP
The containership "Zim Antwerp I" anchored at the Tollerort Container Terminal in the port of Hamburg, northern Germany, on Aug. 29, 2002. German authorities impounded the ship saying it was sailing for an Israeli shipping company under a Panamanian flag and carried military equipment said to be headed for Iran. Customs officials said the two containers would be sent back to Israel as German law forbids the export of military equipment to Iran.
Expectations are for an increase in the trade deficit of $300 million to $39.4 billion.
Wells Fargo's John Silvia commented earlier this month: "After smoothing out the unusually noisy data, the trade deficit appears to have been relatively flat during the three months leading up to July. However, when looking over the past two years, the deficit seems to be narrowing in nominal terms. Some of this can be attributed to rising domestic production of petroleum and related products. As a result, more oil has been sent abroad, keeping exports from falling amid global economic weakness. More importantly, rising domestic production reduces U.S. demand for foreign oil and places downward pressure on imports. Despite this new trend, the United States still imported three times more petroleum products than it exported in July, so higher oil prices in August likely boosted imports more than exports. At the same time, persistent troubles across much of Europe and weakness in several emerging markets has restrained export growth and should contribute to the trade deficit widening to $40.6 billion."
The YOY balance has been slowly improving since 2012:
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