Seattle Post-Intelligencer

WASHINGTON (July 26, 1996 ) -- U.S. purchases of shoes, toys, machinery and other goods from China last year resulted in a record trade deficit with that country of $33.8 billion, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported yesterday.

The deficit rose from $29.4 billion in 1994 despite a decline in U.S. purchases of textiles, mostly clothes, which had previously been growing.

According to the commission, the United States bought $45.4 billion worth of goods from China in 1995, while selling the Chinese $11.6 billion. Fertilizers, airplanes and cotton were the main U.S. exports.