The United States recorded its second-worst monthly trade deficit in history, at $73.3 billion for the month of August, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced October 5.
The U.S. was once a capital goods exporting nation, but that has changed considerably. Dollar value of U.S. exports of goods and services overall edged up slightly to $213.7 billion in August, but imports increased to $287.0 billion. U.S. exports of capital goods in August at $43.9 billion were lower than they were in January 2020, but U.S. import of capital goods in August ($58.3 billion) exceeded the level of U.S. capital goods exports by $15 billion.
The $5 trillion in financial stimulus packages since March 2020, whose ostensible purposes were to help the population deal with COVID-19, but in reality were much more to bail out the corporate bond market and put money into the hands of the population, led the population to have more money at hand, even as the real standard of living fell. This led to increased purchasing. But that effect will recede.
Were the U.S. helping to build, with China and other nations, a universal health system for every nation on Earth, as well to develop Afghanistan and Haiti, as Helga-Zepp LaRouche has outlined, the U.S. capital goods exports would double within 12 months, and more than triple within three and one-half years.
The U.S. trade deficit would turn into a surplus.
