WASHINGTON, April 12: The US trade deficit narrowed to $65.7 billion in February as imports fell, government data showed on Wednesday, but economists said the respite would prove short-lived.

Even with the improvement from January’s record-high deficit of $68.6 billion, the Commerce Department said the February figure remained the third-highest yet.

The politically sensitive deficit with China narrowed to its lowest level in a year, but there is still plenty for President George W. Bush to chew over as he prepares to host Chinese leader Hu Jintao next week.

China, eager to smooth the path for Hu’s visit, vowed to tackle some of the biggest complaints levied by the United States over the two nations’ skewed trade during annual talks here on Tuesday.

After the trade meeting, US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez welcomed “clear progress” in intellectual property rights and market access.

“The real outcome of this meeting, of course, will be known when we see the results,” he added, as pressure intensifies in Congress for the Bush administration to get tough on trade with Beijing.

The February deficit was lower than Wall Street’s expectation of $67.5 billion and was the best figure since November, lending a boost to the dollar in New York trade against the euro and the yen.

“Trade data is a little better ... but I think the dollar rally should be limited as the prospects for the trade deficit still aren’t very good,” said Kathy Lien, chief currency strategist at Forex Capital Markets.

“Oil prices spiked in March, not February, so odds are the March number can be much worse,” she said.

February exports fell $1.3 billion to $113.0 billion, the Commerce Department said. But imports declined by a much bigger margin, going down $4.2 billion to $178.7 billion.

Imports of capital goods, consumer goods, agriculture products and industrial supplies all fell. There was a sharp drop in auto imports, reflecting stagnant US sales so far this year.

The country’s foreign petroleum bill crept up 0.2 per cent to $24.6 billion, as the price of crude oil rose.—AFP