GHY Tradelines

The blueprint for the fiscal 2013 budget released today by the Obama administration provides $39.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, a decrease of 5.4 percent or $191 million to be achieved through cuts in administrative costs and the elimination of duplicative programs.

Funds and staffing at the northern and southern borders and the ports of entries would remain the same under the budget, however proposed outlays for the CBP’s Automation Modernization account – which includes the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and Critical Operations Protection and Processing Support (COPPS) would decrease by $82 million to $309 million. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce Online – Joseph Bonney)

Strengthening economy causes imports to outstrip exports

The U.S. trade deficit hit a six-month high in December, as growth in consumer demand and business investment caused imports to rise faster than exports.

The Commerce Department said the U.S. deficit in trade of goods and services increased to $48.8 billion, the largest imbalance since June. Read more here.
 

(Reuters – Louise Egan)

Canada’s trade surplus more than doubled in December from November as exports to a recovering U.S. economy grew to their highest since October 2008 and set a record high for non-U.S. trade partners. […]

Exports jumped 4.5 percent to C$42 billion while volumes rose 4.9 percent. The gains were led by machinery and equipment but exports grew across all sectors.

Imports edged up by 0.8 percent to C$39.3 billion, the second-highest on record, as strong purchases of metals and autos offset a slide in energy product imports.

Both exports and imports to the United States, which buys 70 percent of all Canadian exports, registered their strongest levels since October 2008. Exports to the United States jumped 5.3 percent as Canada shipped more oil, aircraft and precious metals south and imports climbed 2.8 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of C$5.5 billion in December from C$4.7 billion in November. Read more here.

Summary statistics and links to the data files are on the Statistics Canada website. Export and import price indexes can be found here.