U.S. Trade Deficit Hit $11.5 Billion in July : Commerce: Imbalance with Japan improved. Aircraft exports fell and German luxury car imports rose.

The U.S. trade deficit climbed to $11.5 billion in July, setting a record for the second straight month as plunging exports of commercial aircraft and rising imports of German luxury cars offset an improvement in the deficit with Japan.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit was 1.9% higher than a revised June imbalance of $11.28 billion. In both months, the imbalances were the highest since the government began releasing monthly data on goods and services trade in January, 1992.

The deficit with Japan declined for a fourth straight month, dropping to $5.12 billion. But for the year as a whole, the trade gap with Japan is running 3.8% higher than last year, which set a record.

The Clinton Administration expressed hope that a new Japanese plan for stimulating that country’s economy will do more to shrink what is still the largest imbalance by far.

But private economists held out little hope for any quick improvement in the trade picture, saying the biggest problem is not foreign trade barriers or slow growth overseas but America’s appetite for foreign goods.

“Our trade deficit remains at a very high level despite the fact we had this economic slowdown that was supposed to rein in imports,” said Robert Dederick, economic consultant for Northern Trust Co. in Chicago. “The fundamental reason is we are a high spending and low savings country.”

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said the higher deficit does not look so bad considering the size of the overall economy. He also said: “The incredible growth in exports continues. At the current rate, we could hit $600 billion in exports for the first time in American history.”

Marilyn Schaja, economist at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, predicted that the widening trade gap of July will act to depress overall economic growth in the second half of the year.

Imports did decline during the month, dropping 1.7% to $74.59 billion. But this drop was surpassed by a 2.3% decline in exports, which fell to $63.09 billion.

The deficit with Germany set a record at $1.9 billion, as exports of German luxury cars and auto parts climbed by $300 million. That reflected a growth in German car sales during the auto trade fight with Japan this summer.

U.S. exports of goods dropped by $1.32 billion in July, with half that decline coming from a $685-million plunge in sales of commercial aircraft. So far this year, sales of jetliners, America’s leading manufactured export, are down $3.11 billion from the same period a year ago.

Imports of goods dropped by $1.23 billion, led by a drop of $354 million in shipments of foreign crude oil.