Trade deficit hits 8-year low // Exports set record in 2nd qtr. as slump shrivels import demand

WASHINGTON Recession-dampened demand for imports and recordexports combined to narrow the U.S. merchandise trade deficit to aneight-year low in the April-June quarter, the government saidTuesday.

The $15.6 billion imbalance was 15.1 percent smaller than thegap in the first three months of the year and was the narrowest sincethe second quarter of 1983, the Commerce Department said.

However, analysts warned that much of the dramatic decrease wastemporary and could be partly reversed as the U.S. economic recoveryincreases Americans' appetite for foreign goods.

"Much of the improvement that took place over the last year hasbeen directly attributable to the …