Trump's favorite trade-war scorecard posts its best figure in 3 years

• The US trade deficit narrowed for a third straight month in November to the lowest level in more than three years.
• The Commerce Department said Tuesday the gap between exports and imports fell 8.2% to a seasonally adjusted $43.1 billion.
• Trade figures have been volatile since the US slapped tariffs on thousands of imports last year, drawing in-kind responses from China and other major economies.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage here.

The US trade deficit narrowed for a third straight month in November to its lowest level in more than three years.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday the gap between exports and imports fell 8.2% to a seasonally adjusted $43.1 billion, below economist expectations for a $43.6 billion deficit.

That was the slimmest it has been since October 2016, before President Donald Trump took office, and compared with a reading of $46.9 billion a month earlier. The president views the trade balance as a scorecard of sorts in the economic disputes he ignited in 2018.

Trade figures have been volatile since the US slapped tariffs on thousands of imports last year, drawing in-kind responses from China and other major economies. The trade balance is driven by a variety of factors, including foreign-exchange rates, the strength of an economy, and the amount a country borrows from abroad.

The trade deficit with China, long a focus of the Trump administration's "America First" initiative, fell $2.2 billion to $25.6 billion November.

Imports were down 1% as Americans purchased fewer consumer goods from abroad, some of which were hit with steep duties for the first time this September. Imports of cell phones dropped more than 5%.

Exports rose 0.7%, meanwhile, lifted partly by a rebound in car shipments following the end of a strike at General Motors in October. Shipments of vehicles rose more than 3%.