U.S. Trade Gap Balloons 14%

America's trade deficit widened to $51.8 billion in March from a revised $45.4 billion in February as both imports and exports set new records, the Dept. of Commerce reports.

Exports grew nearly 3% to $186.8 billion March. Shipment to the Europe Union soared by two-thirds to $9.8 billion a record high for any month despite the region's sluggish economy. Worldwide exports of autos and parts climbed 3% to 12.3 billion.

U.S. imports rose more than 5% to $238.6 billion because of higher purchases of capital and consumer goods from overseas. Auto imports increased 5% to $25.4 billion.

America's trade in the first three months of 2012 was on pace for full-year deficit of nearly $600 billion, up 7% from last year.

The U.S. trade deficit with China increased to $21.7 billion in March from $19.4 billion the month before. The full-year trade gap with China is expected to exceed last year's record $295.5 billion.