The United States Exports And Imports
According to the trade statistics from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2015) the United States of America is the second largest exporter of the world after China and the largest importer.
The USA merchandise exports totaled $1,623.44 billion in 2014, while the import value was estimated at $2,345.19 billion. Therefore the trade balance deficit reached $721.75 billion (International Trade Administration, 2015).
The Leading US Export and Imports products
Analysis of the USA exports over 2010-2014 showed that the leading export products are transportation equipment – $273.02 billion or 16.8 % of the total exports in 2014, computer and electronic products – $298.97 billion or 12.9 %, chemicals – $200.11 billion or 12.3 %, machinery (except electrical) – $152.15 or 9.4 %, and petroleum and coal products – 118.54 billion or 7.3 %. During the analyzed period the share of these five export products accounts for about 60 % of the USA total exports. The USA primary exports are also agriculture ($73.34 billion) and food products ($70.72 billion) (International Trade Administration, 2015).
Each of the named categories includes many different goods, produced by the corresponding industries that are classifies in accordance with the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For example, transport equipment category includes such goods as motor vehicles and their parts, aerospace product and parts, ships and boats, rolling stocks and others. Category computer and electronic products comprises computer and peripheral equipment, communications equipment, audio and video equipment,
semiconductors and other electronic components, navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments, manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).
The leading USA import products in terms of value are nearly the same. Computer and electronic products accounts for 15.6 % of total imports or $366.10 billion in 2014, then follows transport equipment – 15.2 % or $355.76 billion, oil and gas – 11.2 % or $261.57, chemicals – 8.8 % or $205.84 billion, and machinery (except electrical) – 6.9 % or $160.67 billion. These five categories account for about 60 % of the total USA imports (International Trade Administration, 2015).
The US comparative advantages. As it can be seen, the USA exports many categories of goods which imply the use of high technologies in their production process such as transportation equipment, computer products, and chemicals. Therefore, it can be stated that the country has a comparative advantage in these spheres. That can be explained by the fact that the United States possesses a highly-educated labor force and technically sophisticated equipment (Wolak, 2011, para. 2). Moreover, its large land mass and diverse natural resource allow the USA to export large volumes of petroleum, oil, agriculture and food products (Amadeo, 2015).
The Primary US Trading Partners
While analyzing the primary trading partners of the USA, it was found that China, Canada, Mexico, Japan. Germany, South Korea, and United Kingdom are the leading exporters to the USA, as well as the most important importers of the US products (International Trade Administration, 2015).
In 2014 shares of these counties in the total US exports were: (1) Canada – 19.2 % or $312.13 billion, (2) Mexico – 14.8 % or $240.33 billion, (3) China – 7.6 % or $124.02 billion, (4) Japan – 4.1 % or $66.96 billion, (5) United Kingdom – 3.3 % or $52.87 billion, (6) Germany – 3.0 % or $49.44 billion, (7) South Korea – 2.7 % or $44.54 billion (International Trade Administration, 2015).
The succession of the countries from whom the US imports products is slightly different: (1) China – 19 % of the total imports or $466.66 billion, (2) Canada – 14.5 % or $346.06 billion, (3) Mexico – 12.2 % or $294.16 billion, (4) Japan – 6.1 % or $133.94 billion, (5) Germany – 4.8 or $123.18 billion, (6) South Korea – 2.7 % or $69.61 billion, (7) United Kingdom – 2.4 % or $54.05 billion (International Trade Administration, 2015).
Trade Deficits and Surpluses
In general the US is characterized by a constant large trade deficit. In 2014 the US imports exceeded its exports by $721.74 billion. The USA has the largest deficit in trade with such counties as China (– $342,63 billion in 2014), Germany (– $73.24 billion), Japan (– $66.97 billion), Mexico (– $53.83 billion), and Canada (– 33.93 billion) (International Trade Administration, 2015).
However, there are countries with whom the USA has trade surplus. These are Hong Kong (+ $35.08 billion in 2014), the Netherlands (+ $22.86 billion), the United Arab Emirates (+ $19.31 billion), Australia (+ $16.00 billion), Singapore (+ $14.07 billion), and Belgium (+ $13.92 billion) (International Trade Administration, 2015).
References
Amadeo, K. (2015, January). Comparative advantage. About News. Retrieved from
http://useconomy.about.com/od/glossary/g/comp_adv.htm
International Trade Administration. (2015). Global Patterns of U.S. Merchandise Trade.
Retrieved from http://tse.export.gov/TSE/TSEOptions.aspx?ReportID=1&Referrer=
TSEReports.aspx&DataSource=NTD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (2015). Values and shares of
merchandise exports and imports, annual, 1948-2014. [Table]. Retrieved
U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). North American Industry Classification System. Retrieved
2012%20 NAICS%20Search
Wolak, F.A. (2011, January 19). Our comparative advantage. The New York Times. Retrieved
china-on-green-tech/our-comparative-advantage
