The U.S. trade deficit climbed 13% in July vs. a year earlier including a tariff- and currency-driven rise of 12% in the goods deficit. A slowdown in the rate of services export growth to 5%, the slowest in a year, reflected declining fortunes in transport and insurance. From a trade policy perspective the merchandise deficit – the Trump administration’s main trade metric – climbed with most counterparties. In particular the deficit vs. China widened 10% to a one-month record of $37 billion. That expansion was outpaced by NAFTA (including a doubling of Canada’s surplus vs. America) and t...