Obama’s Foreign Commerce Treaties Widen US Trade Deficit - Watchdog

The US trade deficit expanded while exports dropped in January because of the Obama administration’s ineffective international trade agreements, a watchdog group said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Bureau of Economic Analysis, according to the release, issued a report earlier in the day showing that the US trade deficit increased by $2.1 billion over the previous January, a nearly 5 percent rise, while exports decreased by $12.5 billion, or just over 6 percent.

"A new government report shows that US trade policy and trade agreements continue to shrink America's economy," the Coalition for a Prosperous America stated on Friday.

The release noted that the Obama administration's "willful disregard" for the poor trade performance has been supported by establishment think tanks and congressional leaders to the detriment of the US economy.

"The [US] presidential campaign shows that voters support candidates that want a fundamentally different trade policy that puts American workers, companies, farmers and ranchers first," the release concluded.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have both opposed international trade agreements that have been heavily promoted by the White House, because they ship jobs overseas and harm the US working and middle class.