The US trade deficit rose nearly six percent in July to 62.2 billion dollars on surging oil and Chinese imports, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The July gap was wider than the consensus forecast for an increase to 58.0 billion dollars.
The department revised sharply upward the June deficit to 58.8 billion dollars from an initial estimate of 56.8 billion.
July exports rose 5.4 billion dollars to a total 168.1 billion dollars and imports were up 8.7 billion dollars to 230.3 billion, the department said.
On a 12-month basis, the July trade deficit was 4.9 billion dollars higher than a year ago.
Oil imports accounted for more than half of the trade gap. Petroleum imports rose to 43.4 billion dollars from a revised 37.3 billion, the sharpest increase in the year to date, as crude oil prices skyrocketed.
The average price of imported oil shot up to 124.66 dollars a barrel, from 117.13 dollars in June.
Oil prices hit record highs above 147 dollars a barrel on July 11, but have since fallen steeply as investors worry about softening demand in the slowing global economy.
The politically sensitive issue of ballooning Chinese imports was in focus. Chinese imports swelled to 24.9 billion dollars in July from 21.4 billion in June.
The trade data comes ahead of high-level US-China trade talks next week in California. Critics say China maintains its yuan currency undervalued to bolster exports, and US lawmakers blame outsourcing to China for the loss of thousands of jobs.
