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Abstract
This study examines the causes of the countercyclicality of the trade balance in the three
major sectors of the U.S. economy: services, manufacturing, and agriculture. These results
are compared with the results pertinent to the U.S. economy as a whole. At the macroscopic
level, Sachs’ hypothesis seems to explain the countercyclicality of the trade balance, while
results are mixed across individual sectors. The services sector may be explained by Sachs’
hypothesis, while results for the manufacturing sector are more consistent with the real
business cycle hypothesis. The results for the agricultural sector, however, cannot be
explained by either hypothesis.