美國貿易逆差增加

The U.S. trade deficit got nearly 4 percent worse in December as a reviving economy boosted demand for imported goods.

Both imports and exports hit record highs, but imports grew even more than the flow of goods exported from the United States.

Friday's report from the Commerce Department says the gap between what foreigners sell to U.S. buyers and what Americans sell overseas rose to $48.8 billion for the month.

For all of 2011, the trade deficit rose 11.6 percent to a total of $558 billion, the worst showing since 2008.

The trade gap with China hit a record-high of nearly $296 billion for the year, and is likely to focus more attention on this political issue in the United States.美國12月份的貿易逆差增加了將近4%。正在恢復的美國經濟導致對進口商品的需求上升。

美國的進口和出口都再創新高，但進口的增長超過了出口。

美國商務部星期五發布的報告說，12月份美國的貿易逆差增加到488億美元。

2011年全年美國貿易赤字上升11.6%，達到5580億美元，爲2008年以來最大的貿易赤字。

美國對華貿易赤字2011年又創下近2960億美元的新高。這個問題很可能成爲美國更加關注的一個政治議題。