Archive for the ‘Export Fact Sheet’ Category

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October 2011 Trade Facts and Figures – Autos and Europe

December 9, 2011

Cory Churches is a Communication and Outreach Specialist in the Office of Public Affairs at the International Trade Administration

Today the Commerce Department announced the figures for international trade in goods and services for the month of October. Year-to-date, exports have grown nearly 16 percent. One area that has had particularly strong growth in exports is the auto sector. Exports of passenger cars in the first ten months of 2011 is nearly 25 percent over the same period last year. Those vehicles are finding homes in driveways and garages in Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the UK.

As Secretary Bryson said this morning,

Today’s numbers clearly show the positive impact of exports on the American economy. So far this year we have seen six months of record-breaking growth of exports. Our initiatives are working for the American people. Since the President implemented the National Export Initiative in January 2010 monthly exports have increased 25 percent.

Exports continue to be a bright spot in our still recovering economy.

Europe and the EU have been in the news constantly and it’s worth noting that in 2010, exports to the 27 members of the European Union still represented nearly 19 percent of U.S. merchandise exports. The European Union is an important market for high value U.S. goods, with the largest U.S. export categories to the EU-27 market being chemicals, transportation equipment, computer and electronic products and machinery.

Demand in the Euro-zone countries has been the slowest to recover continuing into 2011. Through the first ten months of 2011, U.S. merchandise exports to these countries increased 13.4 percent. European Union members outside the Euro-zone have grown at a more rapid 15.6 percent. Outside the Euro-zone, the United Kingdom has led growth in  2011 with U.S. merchandise exports increasing 15.1 percent or $6.1 billion in the first ten months of 2011 (compared to the same period of 2010).

You can find more facts and figures about our trade with the EU and Europe in our Export Fact Sheet and about today’s trade figure release in the Census Bureau’s full report.

Posted in Export Fact Sheet, National Export Initiative, Statistics | Tagged , | 7 Comments »

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Did You Know that ITA has New Import Trends and Data?

August 16, 2011

Natalie Soroka is an economist in the Office of Trade and Industry Information within the International Trade Administration. She focuses on international trade statistics and trends, as well as the impact on the domestic manufacturing sector.

In promoting U.S. trade interests, it can be easy to forget about the other side of the coin: imports and their importance as inputs to U.S. manufacturers and exporters. Early last year the Census Bureau started to include state-level merchandise import data with their monthly data release, which is now also available on our TradeStats Express platform. Similar to the state export series, this resource can be used to explore state-level trends in goods imports going back to 2008.  For example, in 2010 New York’s main import was precious stones and metals, most of which consisted of diamonds from Israel, India, Belgium, and South Africa. As far as trends over time, as you would expect state imports generally declined across the board in 2009.  However, two states bucked the trend and actually increased their imports: Kansas and Utah.  In Kansas’ case, this increase was nearly all due to high mineral fuel imports, which then dropped the following year (causing Kansas to be one of only four states that saw goods imports decline in 2010).

Bar graph showing state imports of oil and gas as a percentage of total state goods imports. MT, LA, HI, WY, MS, TX, PA, WA, CO, IL, MN, OK and KS are above the national average of 14.6 percent.

State reliance on imports of oil and gas as a percentage of total state goods imports

As for Utah, in 2008 the state reported increased imports of precious stones and metals, as well as aircraft.  In 2010 imports largely rebounded nationwide, except in four states: Delaware, Kansas, Wyoming, and Maine.  Delaware showed the greatest decline, which was largely due to a steep drop in imports of mineral fuel.  In 2008, mineral fuel accounted for more than a third of Delaware’s goods imports, but has since dropped 89 percent, accounting for only 5 percent of goods imports in 2010.

Speaking of fuel, many states rely heavily on oil and gas imports, importing higher than the general nationwide average share of nearly 15 percent. In particular, oil and gas account for more than half of total goods imports in five states: Montana, Louisiana, Hawaii, Wyoming, and Mississippi. On the other side, two states did not directly import any oil or gas in 2010: Rhode Island and West Virginia.

In 2009, 100,891 companies only imported, 196,903 companies only exported, and 78,940 copanies imported and exported.

Twenty percent of companies engaged in trade both import and export.

In addition to the state import series, this past April the Census Bureau also started to release data on U.S. importing companies. In addition to highlighting the characteristics of companies that imported in 2009, this release also shows that for U.S. businesses, exports and imports are not mutually exclusive, with a sizeable portion both exporting and importing in 2009.

For more information on state import trends and U.S. importers, check out ITA’s Trade Statistics webpage.

Posted in Export Fact Sheet, Exporting, International Trade Administration, Manufacturing, Manufacturing and Services, Trade Data | Tagged , , | 4 Comments »

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Colorfully Illustrated Trade Facts and Statistics

July 13, 2011

Carrie Bevis is an intern at the International Trade Administration’s Office of Public Affairs.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of sitting through my very first trade statistics briefing after U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke released the US International Trade in Goods and Services report compiled by the Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. It was announced that though exports decreased by 0.5 percent in May, total exports are still up 16.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Exports supported 2.4 million jobs in 2009, 21.9% of all manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Exports supported 2.4 million jobs in 2009, 21.9% of all manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

To my delight, all of the trade stats were illustrated in a medley of attractive and understandable graphs and tables. In 2009, that one out of every 21 private sector jobs was supported by U.S. manufactured exports was displayed in a pleasing pie chart while the fact that the value of exports to support one job rose to $181,000 was brandished in a bar graph.

All numbers aside, the key message is that the U.S. Department of Commerce is still as committed as ever to accelerating job growth and providing businesses with the tools they need to be globally competitive. “As we move closer to reaching the president’s goal of doubling exports by 2015, the Obama administration will continue to help businesses reach the 95 percent of consumers who live outside our borders,” Locke said.

Despite an increase in the trade deficit of 15.1 percent due to a 2.6 percent increase in imports of goods and services, the department is happy to report that U.S. exports support an estimated 9.2 million jobs in 2010 which is up from 8.7 million in 2009. This nugget of knowledge was announced in July’s blog post Exports Support U.S. Jobs  which highlighted the brief on Projected Jobs Supported by Exports for 2009 and 2010. More spotlight stories highlighting export-related jobs can be found at the online Office of Competition and Economic Analysis.

For more fresh facts from the export statistics released yesterday, check out the handy-dandy Fact Sheet. If you want a deeper break down of the information, ITA has published several other reports that can be found under Industry Analysis from the trade.gov homepage. For example, State Reports provides a detailed analysis of the effects of international trade on all 50 states, from the how foreign investment is creating jobs in Alabama to Wyoming’s dependence on world markets.

Stay tuned for more tasty tidbits of trade facts!

Posted in Competitiveness, Export Fact Sheet, Exporting, International Trade Administration, Manufacturing, Trade Data | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments »

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