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Trade deficit surges as oil imports hit record high

Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- America's trade deficit increased sharply in June as surging oil prices pushed the cost of petroleum imports to an all-time high. The politically sensitive deficit with China also set a record.

The Commerce Department reported that the imbalance between what America sells abroad and what it imports rose to $58.8 billion in June, an increase of 6.1 percent from the May deficit of $55.4 billion.

So far this year, the trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $686 billion, 11 percent higher than last year's record of $617.6 billion. The trade performance has presented President Bush with a political headache as critics have charged that the soaring imbalance represents the failure of the administration's free trade policies.

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