The United States trade deficit ballooned in 2010 by the largest amount seen in a decade.
Commerce Department figures show the trade deficit - the difference between imports and exports - was $US497.8 billion last year, up 32.8% on the year before, the biggest annual percentage gain since 2000.
Imports from China hit record levels, totalling $US364.9 billion for the year.
For the month of December, the deficit widened by 5.9% to $US40.6 billion, after a rise in the price for imported oil.
The BBC reports this rise was also a factor in the widening annual deficit, with the average price of imported oil increasing from $US56.93 per barrel in 2009 to $US74.66 in 2010.
In 2009, the deficit fell to an eight-year low after a drop in imports.
But that was reversed in 2010, as overall US imports of goods and services grew 19.7% to $US2.33 trillion, indicating that US consumers and businesses spent more as the economy picked up.
Exports increased by 16.6% to $US1.83 trillion for the year.
The trade deficit with China rose by 20.4% to an all-time high of $273.1 billion, the largest imbalance the US has recorded with a single country.
Chinese imports far outweighed the $US91.9 billion worth of US exports going the other way.
