THE U.S. TRADE DEFICIT NARROWED SLIGHTLY IN JUNE ON STRONGER EXPORTS, PARTICULARLY AS AMERICAN AGRICULTURE POSTED RECORD SALES, THE GOVERNMENT REPORTED THURSDAY. THE MOST RECENT DATA SHOW THE JUNE DEFICIT FELL 0.3 PERCENT TO $64.8 BILLION. DESPITE THE SLIGHT DECREASE, THAT FIGURE REPRESENTS THE FIFTH LARGEST DEFICIT ON RECORD. JUNE'S NUMBERS BRING THE DEFICIT FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR TO AN ANNUAL RATE OF $768 BILLION—WELL BEYOND LAST YEAR'S RECORD OF $716.7 BILLION. THE SWELLING OF THE DEFICIT IS LARGELY DUE TO HIGHER THAN EVER GLOBAL OIL PRICES. MEANWHILE, U.S. EXPORTS ROSE 2 PERCENT TO TOTAL A RECORD $120.7 BILLION. EXPORTS TO THE EUROPEAN UNION, SOUTH AMERICA AND CENTRAL AMERICA SET ALL-TIME RECORDS IN JUNE. EXPORTS TO JAPAN REACHED THEIR HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE MARCH 2001. IMPORTS ALSO ROSE TO A RECORD OF $185.5 BILLION, AN INCREASE OF 1.2 PERCENT, ON STRONG CONSUMER GOODS AND AUTOMOBILE IMPORTS.
