Record imports push US trade gap to $55.5 billion in October

In this July, 5, 2018 photo, a group of rubber tire gantry move to the next stack of shipping containers at the Port of Savannah in Savannah, Ga. On Thursday, Dec. 6, the Commerce Department reports on the U.S. trade gap for October. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

Record imports in October drove the U.S. trade deficit to the highest level in a decade.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that the gap between what the United States sells and what it buys from foreign countries rose to $55.5 billion in October, the fifth straight increase and the highest since October 2008.

The politically sensitive deficit in the trade of goods with China rose 7.1% to a record $43.1 billion. The goods gap with the European Union widened 65.5% to a record $17.6 billion.

Led by shipments of medicine and cars, overall imports rose 0.2% to a record $266.5 billion. Exports fell 0.1% to $211 billion.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to slash America's trade deficit. But the deficit this year is running 11.4% above January-October 2017.