News / US retailers look to consumers to save an industrial sector in the doldrums

© Manassanant Pamai

US consumers are expected to step into the breach again to generate higher volumes of cargo in the coming weeks, as industrial traffic remains hobbled by a stuttering manufacturing sector.

Trade statistics for August set off alarm bells as imports lost momentum: at $342.2bn, they were $3.2bn lower than a year earlier.

While this alleviated the trade deficit (exports were $5.3bn higher, year on year), it raised question marks about retail demand, heading into the peak shopping season.

Despite signals of weakening consumer ...