The US trade deficit surprisingly lessened in February from the previous month, as the US purchased fewer goods from China and imported less oil & gas, a government report said. The gap in goods and services trade shrunk considerably to $58.4 billion from $58.9 billion in January, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. Imports and exports both declined. Imports from China came down to the lowest level since May 2006. The report said that the gap narrowed as crude oil imports fell sharply to the smallest level in four years and average imported oil prices were the lowest since December 2005. Imports from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries were recorded at $9.9 billion, marking the lowest level since May 2005. In totality, imports were slashed by 1.7 percent in February to $182.4 billion, followed by the fall in petroleum and aided by other categories. At the same time, imports of foods, feeds and beverages increased to some extent to a record during February. At the very crucial front, imports from China dropped 10 percent to $23.1 billion, reaching the lowest since May 2006. The closely monitored trade gap with that country lessened 13.3 percent, as US exports to China increased 6.1 percent to $4.6 billion. The total US exports moved back 2.2 percent to $124.0 billion after increasing progressively in the six prior months. Exports of US consumer goods fell from the record set in January, but still managed to remain the second-highest ever. On the other hand, the trade deficit with China for the first two months of the current year, in spite of everything, was 25.1 percent greater than in the corresponding period last year. At the middle of economic affairs, the Bush administration is apparently confronting mounting pressure from Congress, now controlled by Democrats, to deal with the towering US trade deficit. The administration in its efforts to impede growing sentiment in Congress to construct trade barricade to protect American workers, has hardened its line of attack. The administration has recently filed two cases against china at WTO alleging unfair trade practices and imposing stiff penalty sanctions in a dispute related to Chinese government subsidies to paper manufacturers. The midpoint approximation of Wall Street experts surveyed before the report was for the February trade gap to broaden slightly to $60.0 billion. The smaller-than-expected trade deficit might fuel analysts to lift up their estimates of first-quarter US economic growth. The US seems to be slowly transferring to Europe and Japan its role as the prime mover for global growth. As a matter of fact, Europe and Japan, and in addition most of the developing world, are developing more speedily compared to the US which has now started looking for ways to get a revitalization from their growth.