US exports rise in June amid stronger global growth

America's shortfall on foreign trade fell in May as exports strengthened amid stronger global growth.

The country's foreign trade deficit declined from -$47.6bn in April to -$46.5bn for May, according to the Department of Commerce.

Economists had penciled in a slightly bigger reduction to -$46.3bn.

Exports were up by 0.2% month-on-month to $192bn amid stronger demand for cars and consumer goods.

Imports on the other hand decreased by 0.1% to $238.5bn despite record purchases of capital goods.

The US trade gap with Mexico hit $7.3bn and was at its widest since October 2007, while that with China stood at $31.6bn.

"The survey evidence suggests that annual export growth will accelerate from here, reflecting the strength of the global economy and the slight depreciation of the US dollar since the beginning of the year. That is a big change from the situation just a few years ago, when the sharp appreciation of the dollar caused the trade deficit to rise," said Michael Pearce, US economist at Capital Economics.

Nonetheless, he forecast that net imports continued to exert a small drag in the second quarter.