Eurozone Trade Surplus Increases In September

(RTTNews) - The euro area trade surplus increased notably in September as exports to the United States surged ahead of the presidential election in November that saw Donald Trump winning the race.

The trade surplus rose to EUR 12.5 billion in September from EUR 9.8 billion in the same period last year, data from Eurostat showed Monday. Exports grew 0.6 percent on a yearly basis, offsetting the 2.8 percent decline in August. Meanwhile, imports dropped 0.6 percent, following the 2.7 percent fall in the previous month.

Shipments to the US grew 8.9 percent and imports from the US fell 4.9 percent. As a result, the trade surplus with the US increased to EUR 18.4 billion from EUR 13.3 billion a year ago.

The victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election is likely to pose challenges to the EU exporters. In the election campaign, Trump advocated imposing tariffs of 10-20 percent on all imports and 60 percent on goods from China.

In September, there was a sharp increase in the surplus of machineries and vehicles to EUR 13.8 billion from EUR 9.7 billion, Eurostat data showed. At the same time, the energy deficit declined to EUR 22.3 billion from EUR 25.7 billion.

The trade surplus on a seasonally adjusted basis totaled EUR 13.6 billion compared to a EUR 10.8 billion surplus in August. On a monthly basis, exports climbed 0.4 percent, while imports decreased 0.8 percent.

During January to September, the trade surplus rose to EUR 140.8 billion from EUR 13.9 billion in the same period last year.