WASHINGTON, June 10: The US trade deficit rose to $57 billion in April as a swollen oil import bill overpowered record sales of exports including civilian aircraft, the government said on Friday.

The Commerce Department revised down the March deficit to $53.6 billion from $55 billion before, encouraging economists to hope for a better economic growth rate in the quarter.

US companies sold a record amount of goods overseas in April, but on the flip side, American consumers and businesses bought a record amount of imported goods to result in the fourth-highest deficit ever.

Exports rose 3.0 per cent to a record $106.4 billion in April. But imports rose by a faster 4.1 per cent to $163.4 billion, also a new high, mostly because of record crude oil prices.

“The problem with the trade deficit is that the United States doesn’t make enough of the raw materials it needs to power its economy,” Wachovia economist Jason Schenker said.

The US trade deficit with China widened to $14.7 billion in April, compared with $12.0 billion in the same month last year.

Imports of Chinese textiles, a particularly sensitive issue this year following the scrapping of global quotas on textile products, are up 51.7pc year to date.

Exports of US goods alone rose 4.2 per cent to $74.5 billion in April, led by farm produce. Exports of civilian aircraft jumped 40.8 per cent to $3.21 billion with US giant Boeing enjoying unusually strong April sales.

On the import side, US businesses bought a record amount of industrial supplies — mostly petroleum and capital goods. The US imported $19.4 billion of crude oil in April.

The overall US trade deficit is down from a record high of $60.6 billion reached in February.

“The recovery in exports is obviously good news but we are far from believing that it will be a long lasting trend as the traditional manufacturing sector is declining,” said Marie-Pierre Ripert, US economist at IXIS Corporate and Investment Bank.—AFP