The U.S. final trade deficit for December was $44.3 billion, down 3% vs. November but still 7% higher than a year before. It was also just below the $45 billion forecast by economists. That was likely the result of the growth in services, which at 2.2% was its fastest rate since March 2015. It is more likely, however, that the future political debate will focus on the total goods deficit for 2016. That reached $734 billion, including $347 billion for China and $74 billion for NAFTA.