Washington : US trade deficit widened for a fifth consecutive month and reached a 10-year high in October, according to data from the Commerce Department.

The total trade gap increased 1.7 per cent to $55.5 billion in October, spurred by all-time high imports, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying.

The statistics showed the US bought an additional $2 billion worth of consumer goods in October compared with September.

Exports of goods and services dropped $300 million, or 0.1 per cent month-over-month, to $211 billion in October.

Decreased goods exports mostly included foods, feeds, beverages and capital goods, while the increase in services exports was mainly driven by an upward trend in financial, research and development and professional and management services.

The trade deficit added up to $502.7 billion in the first 10 months this year, up more than 11 per cent compared with the same period in 2017, the report said.

Economists believe that raising tariffs on imports is not the right way to reduce the country’s long-time trade deficit, which is likely to increase further because of the planned US fiscal stimulus.

A strong US dollar has also contributed to the widening of the trade deficit.

—IANS