The U.S. trade deficit surged to a record $68 billion in July, as imports reached an all-time high and exports declined for the first time in five years.
A Commerce Department report issued Tuesday shows the deficit was much bigger than the $65.5 billion that analysts expected. The report says the gap between what Americans buy from foreign countries and what they sell abroad increased more than $3 billion over the June figure.
Analysts say the United States is on track this year to surpass last year's record annual trade deficit of nearly $717 billion.
Improvement of the U.S. trade deficit may prove difficult because U.S. economic growth, while slowing, is still outpacing that of most of its trading partners.