"But similarly [drop in exports] could be that we know that China is stockpiling a lot of commodities - coal and iron ore in particular - and it could be the Chinese think that they've got enough of our raw materials and are therefore not importing as much as they were before, so if that's the case then that is quite a worrying sign," Mr Walters said. Join discussion...

The U.S. trade deficit grew in October as both the volume of oil exports and our trade deficit with China surged to a record highs. A widening deficit means the United States will not be able to rely on trade to help pull the economy out of what may be the longest recession in the post-World War II era. Join discussion...