Supply Chain Research

American trade price inflation accelerated to 3.5% vs. a year earlier for imports and 3.2% for exports in October. With seaborne import volumes having surged 12.1% higher on a year earlier in October and given imports outnumber exports 1.5:1 it’s likely the U.S. saw yet another rise in its trade deficit in October, potentially to a new record. Yet, when adjusting for the volatile energy and agriculture sectors, underlying import price inflation was just 0.8%. That was the lowest since July 2017 and included Chinese prices which rose by only 0.3%. With a 16.1% jump in seaborne imports fro...