Just thought people may be interested since Trump has made the trade deficit such a central issue in his campaign and his presidency. The deficit for the first seven months of 2018 was $337.9 billion, that is an increase of 17.1 percent from the trade deficit of $288.5 billion in the same months of 2016. The trade deficit has been running at an annual rate of $579.3 billion so far this year, or just under 2.9 percent of GDP.

There are many factors that affect the deficit, including more rapid growth and the increase in the value of the dollar. But the followers of Donald Trump who see this as the main measure of the success of the country’s trade policy may be interested in this number.