Economic Indicator: Foreign trade data show U.S. well on its way to NEI goal of doubling exports in five years
The Commerce Department reported very positive economic news today: U.S. exports of goods and services in September 2011 increased 1.4 percent from August 2011 to a record $180.4 billion. This month’s exports of goods ($129.3 billion) were the highest on record and imports of goods and services increased a slight 0.3 percent to reach $223.5 billion. The net effect of this jump in exports and slow growth in imports was a 4.0 percent decline in the trade deficit, to $43.1 billion in September 2011.
In this increasingly global age, economic growth in Europe, Asia and Latin America can have significant positive effects in the U.S. Our experience over the past two years demonstrates this point quite clearly: overseas growth has picked up significantly and exports of U.S. goods have increased 44%. This is an encouraging sign since it means we are well on our way to achieving the National Export Initiative goal of doubling exports in five years (For more on the responsiveness of exports to demand, see this post [1]). On the flip side, any slowdown in the global economy stemming from the European debt crisis may also hinder U.S. export growth.
In dollar terms, U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico, our top trading partners, have seen the strongest growth. (See chart below.) The European Union, followed by Asia and Latin America has also been strong. Manufactured goods account for the largest share of our goods exports, although the U.S. is a veritable global provider of agricultural products and these account for most of the non-manufactured goods in the chart below (the red bars).
Within manufactured goods, the top exports in dollar terms are refined petroleum, motor vehicles, chemicals, computers and electronics, machinery, food, and metals (see chart below).
Imports grew 46% during this same period, driven by crude oil, petroleum, and natural gas [2] (which grew 84% during this time). Excluding petroleum, both imports and exports grew 39%. In dollar terms, however, non-petroleum imports rose $369.7 billion while non-petroleum exports increased only $288.2 billion.
~Mark Doms, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce
November 10, 2011
Are you on Twitter? We are! Follow us at EconChiefGov [3]!
