The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose to a record high in June largely on the back of a surge in imports as businesses built up inventories to meet robust consumer demand. The Commerce Department said in a release Thursday (pdf) that the trade deficit—the difference between exports and imports of goods and services—rose 6.7 percent in June, hitting an all-time high of $75.7 billion. Imports, too, climbed to a record high, rising 2.1 percent over the month to $283.4 billion. Exports, meanwhile, edged up slightly by 0.5 percent in June to $207.7 billion. The June increase in the trade deficit was driven by a rise in the goods deficit of $4 billion to $93.2 billion and a drop in the services surplus of $0.7 billion to $17.4 billion. In the year-to-date, the trade deficit increased by 46.4 percent to $135.8 billion compared to the same period in …