By Joseph Plocek WASHINGTON (MNI) - The U.S. September trade data surprised as better than expected, with the overall trade balance reported at -$44.0 billion after a revised -$46.5 billion in August. Imports fell $2 billion in a relief from demand, and exports gained $0.5 billion in a virtuous combination that might also reflect continuing need abroad for some products. This improvement was better than the steady real trade gap the Commerce Department had assumed for September in the Q3 GDP accounts and will add to growth in the revision. The real trade balance collapsed by $1.5 billion in September. Imports included: -$1.9 billion consumer goods (pharmaceuticals, apparel, and gems fell), -$1.4 billion autos and -$319 million in 'other goods', offset by +$658 million for crude oil and +$1.3 billion in capital goods (mainly computers). Oil unit prices fell $1.11 per barrel on imports so this implies more demand. The drops in imported goods could have come because holiday sales stocking was completed earlier and imply fewer goods will make their way into inventories. In exports, civilian aircraft printed +$698 million and jewelry +$228 million, but nonmonetary gold fell $652 million as an offset. Looking ahead, Boeing Corp. has massive orders that should be delivered overseas and will boost exports in coming months. The unadjusted balances by country were: China -$27.8 billion after -$28 billion in August, Japan -$5 billion (its lowest since July) after -$5.8 billion, and OPEC -$8.9 billion after -$9 billion. U.S. exports to China have averaged only about $7 billion a month this year. Trade is recovering with growth as exports reached a new high and imports of services reached a high since October 2008. But a bottom line is that the trade gap remains too wide and is creating global imbalance as China continues to export to a receptive U.S. **Market News International Washington Bureau: (202)371-2121**

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