Consumers are bargain shopping at Wal-Mart and skipping Starbucks in order to fill their gas tanks. But buying imports from China and gasoline from the Middle East are two factors contributing to the U.S. trade deficit and heightening the risk of recession, an economist said.

The current trade deficit, tagged at $58.2 billion in January, subtracts about $250 billion from Gross Domestic Product, according to Peter Morici, professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Petroleum, China and automotive products account for about 95 percent of the deficit, he said.

"Petroleum products accounted for $35.1 billion of the monthly trade gap," Morici said. "Since December 2001, net petroleum imports have increased $29.6 billion, and monthly imports have increased from 353 million to 421 million barrels."

Undervaluation of the dollar against the Chinese yuan and high oil prices keep pulling the trade deficit higher even though the dollar has weakened against the euro, pound and Canadian dollar, and boosted exports, Morici said.

However, the trade deficit remains large because imports of petroleum from Asia are not much affected by exchange rate movements, he said.

"Petroleum is priced in dollars," Morici said. "Consumer goods from China and automotive products from Japan and Korea remain strong, because these countries' central banks sell billions of yuan, yen and won in foreign exchange markets to keep their currencies undervalued against the dollar."