Olympics Boost U.S. Imports as Broadcasters Pay Up for Rights

(Bloomberg) -- The 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea stole the show from any tariff talk in the latest U.S. trade report.

Payments for the use of foreign intellectual property spiked to a record $5.2 billion in February, according to Commerce Department data Thursday, echoing past jumps recorded in months with the Olympic games as broadcasters buy rights to televise the event. The increase contributed to a total of $47.8 billion in services imports as the U.S. trade deficit widened for a sixth straight month.

“Some of the widening in the deficit in February was tied to the Olympics, which led to a surge in imports related to intellectual property that should mostly reverse in March," JPMorgan Chase & Co. economist Daniel Silver wrote in a note.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Washington at edmitrieva1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle

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