Washington - The US trade deficit shrank slightly in July as rising exports of manufactured goods outpaced higher imports, the government said Tuesday. The monthly trade gap eased to 59.2 billion dollars from 59.4 billion dollars in June, the Commerce Department said. Compared to July 2006, the deficit was 14 per cent smaller, the report said.
A 1.9.-billion-dollar rise in foreign sales of capital goods paced July's rise in exports.
Still, the US deficit with several key trading partners grew during the month. China's surplus rose to 23.8 billion dollars from 21.2 billion dollars in June, and the European Union's increased to 13 billion dollars from 9.2 billion dollars.
The US deficit with the oil-producing OPEC nations and Japan also grew. But it fell slightly with Canada, Mexico and Brazil, the data showed.
