Whoa, if you took these reports at face value, you might think everything is OK,

Checking the news as I usually do and this little tidbit got my attention right away.

US Trade Gap Widens on Record Import Surge

Holy moly!, this is what I have been waiting to hear, since the industrial space I work with is heavily tied to imports.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit increased the most in more than 10 years in July as rebounding consumer demand led to a record increase in imports, a government report showed on Thursday.

The trade gap expanded 16.3 percent in July to $32.0 billion, the biggest month-to-month increase since February 1999.

Imports leapt a record 4.7 percent on improved U.S. appetite for foreign cars and consumer goods and on higher oil prices, which rose for a sixth consecutive month.

But what report are they referencing?

As far as I can tell, it is from the Census department, in a joint effort with the BEA, their monthly press release for September. (I did not know they did these, but I will be checking it out monthly, I added it to my calendar!).

Here is the most current one.

The thing everyone is freaking out about is highlighted in red, that in July imports increased over exports and the trade deficit widened.

Why did this happen?

The June to July increase in imports of goods reflected increases in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($2.4 billion); consumer goods ($1.7 billion); industrial supplies and materials ($1.4 billion); capital goods ($1.3 billion); and other goods ($0.2 billion). A decrease occurred in foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.1 billion).

I will be taking a look at the port activity that will be reported in the next few days for July. I am thinking that this was probably a one time thing, that dealers are rebuilding their depleted inventory of cars and car parts.

A 1.7 billion increase in consumer goods looks promising, but how much of that should we have expected from the peak season we are now in, as retailers start building their Christmas inventory?

We will see, I am hoping these are signs for the much anticipated inventory correction everyone keeps talking about. I am not sure what effect that will have on warehouse demand.

I speculate that since a lot of these buildings are under-utilized as it is, people will be more likely to simply put their goods on the second rack rather than lease out more space.

Kinda like how when the "recovery" happens, you will see people stop getting furlough before they hire anybody new.