U.S. trade deficit hits record as companies front-load pharmaceuticals


By Xia Lin

NEW YORK, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. trade deficit ballooned 14 percent to a record 140.5 billion U.S. dollars in March, as businesses stockpiled goods to get ahead of sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed the following month.

The value of imported goods totaled 346.8 billion dollars, according to Census Bureau data issued on Tuesday, continuing a sharp increase that began in January. Nearly all of the 22.5 billion dollars surge in imported consumer goods for March were pharmaceutical products, which the Trump administration is currently considering to hit with tariffs. Imports of computer accessories, automobiles, and car parts and engines also increased.

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