--US March trade deficit widens 16.1% to $31.2 bln
--US March goods/services imports +2.9%; exports -1.0%
--US February trade deficit revised to $26.9 bln from $27.0 bln
--US March goods trade gap $37.6 bln; Feb revised to $33.2 bln
--US March oil imports -5.3%; non-oil imports +4.3%
--US March civilian aircraft exports -11.2%
--Ex-civilian aircraft, US March goods exports -1.2%
--US March trade gap with Japan $6.2 bln; February $6.1 bln
--US March trade gap with China $5.7 bln; February $5.1 bln
--US March deficit with euro area $4.4 bln; February $2.8 bln
--US March deficit with OPEC nations $3.2 bln; February $3.3 bln
--US March imported crude petroleum $22.76/bbl, lowest since Nov 1999

By Simon Kennedy
Washington, May 18 (BridgeNews) - Record demand for foreign-made consumer products boosted the U.S. trade deficit 16.1% in March to $31.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Imports rose 2.9% and exports fell 1.0% as the trade gap reversed its surprise narrowing of February. Private analysts had expected a $29.5-billion deficit for March.
* * * In February, the trade gap plunged 19.2% to a revised $26.9 billion as a falloff in demand for consumer goods dragged down imports. The March trade gap reflected a $37.6-billion shortfall in goods and a $6.5-billion surplus in services--the largest since October.
Imports, which totaled $120.6 billion, were led by record purchases of consumer goods from abroad such as toys and apparel. Consumer goods imports jumped 12.1% to $25.3 billion in March. Capital goods and automobiles also underpinned imports, which had fallen 4.5% in the prior month.
Meanwhile, exports fell 1.0% to $89.5 billion amid a drop in demand for capital goods, which offset increases in shipments of autos and industrial supplies.
Civilian aircraft exports tumbled 11.2% to $2.45 billion. Excluding sales of civilian aircraft, goods exports were 1.2% below the prior month.

OIL
Helping to contain the trade deficit was a 5.3% drop in oil imports to $9.1 billion, the lowest since January 2000. In March, imported crude averaged $22.76 per barrel, down $1.00 from February and the lowest since November 1999.
But volume surged to an average of 292.3 million barrels per day from 251.8 million the prior month.
The trade gap with OPEC member countries narrowed to $3.2 billion in March from February's $3.3 billion as U.S. exports to those nations grew at their fastest pace since December 1999.
Excluding oil, overall U.S. imports rose 4.3% in March.
WHAT WAS EXPECTED
The March trade deficit was at the high end of analysts' expectations, which ranged from $26.4 billion to $32.0 billion. The median estimate for the goods deficit was $36.6 billion, in a range of $32.5 billion to $38.0 billion.

US TRADE GAP WITH SELECTED COUNTRIES
The U.S. trade position worsened with key trading partners. The government does not seasonally adjust the bilateral trade statistics, so changes in the U.S. trade situation with individual countries do not fully reflect the overall data, which are seasonally adjusted.
The March report showed the politically sensitive U.S. trade gap with Japan widened to $6.2 billion from February's $6.1 billion. The deficit with China grew to $5.7 billion, the second-highest on record, from $5.1 billion in February.
The trade gap with the 12 euro-area countries totaled $4.4 billion in March, up from $2.8 billion one month earlier.
And the deficit with Mexico grew to a record $2.8 billion, nearly doubling February's $1.5 billion. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.