Besides importing $919 million more oil, the United States raised its purchases of foreign cars by $677 million and its purchases of computers, telecommunications gear and other capital goods by $207 million.
MOTOROLA CO., Schaumburg, Ill., signed a contract to purchase a bankrupt telecommunications components factory in western Slovakia.
Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government, has replaced its chief investment officer as it grapples with the political fallout from its purchase early this year of telecommunications assets from the family of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand.
The accounting irregularities stemmed from the issue of exchangeable bonds to Nikko Principal Investment Japan, a Nikko Cordial unit, in 2004 and the August 2004 purchase of the telecommunications company Bellsystem24 by Nikko Principal Investments Japan.
But Cisco executives, who have repeatedly told Wall Street that the company plans to grow by 30percentto50percentcent a year, took pains to point to slowing purchases by American telecommunications service providers and manufacturing companies as the reason for Cisco's pessimistic forecast.
In an unprecedented move, the United States has refused to begin an important round of trade talks with Japan, accusing the Japanese of being unwilling to discuss seriously the purchase of American telecommunications products.
At issue is a "vertical merger" in which one company involved in one line of business, telecommunications, is purchasing a company in another line of business, media and entertainment.
Similar stories could be told in the banking industry (with Citibank snatching up Travelers, and Bank of America purchasing Fleet) and the telecommunications industry (with SBC purchasing AT&T and Verizon purchasing MCI).
It follows another embarrassing struggle over a Temasek investment in a Thai telecommunications company purchased from the family of Thaksin Shinawatra, then the prime minister.
America's prohibitions on government purchases of Chinese-made telecommunications gear are prompted by fears that they would expose critical American infrastructure to Chinese attack.
