美中貿易赤字創新高

The U.S. trade deficit with China reached a record high in August.

The gap between what China buys from U.S. companies and what the Chinese sell in the American market was $29 billion in August.

Thursday's report from the Commerce Department says the overall U.S. trade deficit with the world (($45.6 billion)) was nearly unchanged during the month.

The trade gap with China comes at a politically sensitive time when the U.S. Senate has just passed a bill to impose tariffs on certain Chinese-made goods unless Beijing stops its alleged manipulation of its currency. The tariff bill would have to overcome opposition in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and be approved by the president before it could become law.

A weak Chinese currency gives Chinese goods a price advantage in the U.S. market, and raises the cost of American-made products to Chinese consumers.

A separate report from the Labor Department says the number of Americans signing up for unemployment compensation declined by 1,000 to a total of 404,000 last week. The U.S. unemployment rate, which is calculated from a separate study, is a relatively high 9.1 percent.美國對華貿易赤字8月創新高。中國從美國的進口與中國對美國的出口之間的差額爲290億美元。

美國商務部星期四的報告說，美國的全球貿易逆差8月份基本沒有改變。

美中貿易逆差加大正值政治敏感時期。美國參議院剛剛通過一個匯率法案，要求北京取消對人民幣匯率的操縱，否則就對某些中國進口商品徵收懲罰性關稅。不過，這項法案要生效之前還需要得到衆議院的通過和總統的批准。

人民幣幣值被人爲壓低使中國商品在美國市場上享有價格優勢，並增加了中國消費者購買美國商品的開支。

美國勞工部在另一份報告中說，上星期美國申請失業補貼的人數爲40萬4,000，下降了一千人。根據另一項研究，美國的失業率仍維持在9.1%。