Source: http://worldcityweb.com/home/MIA/publications/magazine/24/661/

U.S. trade, led by China, increases $66 billion

by Joachim Bamrud

South Florida’s trade with the world continues to grow more slowly than the U.S. average and slower than most of the Customs districts ahead of it in the rankings.

Houston is growing faster than any other leading Customs districts, led by increasing oil prices it imports from Mexico, Venezuela, the Middle East and Africa.

The United States increased its trade over the first quarter of last year by $66 billion, a 12.5 percent increase. South Florida’s trade grew just under 10 percent while Houston’s surged 33.6 percent.

The only change in the Top 10 ranking was that Chicago slipped ahead of San Francisco into the No. 6 slot.

South Florida fell one spot to No. 13 from the first quarter of 2004, and the gap between it and the two Customs districts ahead of it Cleveland, Ohio and Savannah, Ga. widened to more than $1.2 billion. At various times in recent years, South Florida has ranked ahead of both. It finished 2004 behind both, in the No. 13 slot.

Among the Top 10 countries, only one saw its trade grow faster than the overall U.S. average: China.

Trade with the Asian powerhouse increased 24.6 percent in the first quarter, halving the gap between it and No. 2-ranked Mexico, from $14 billion to less than $7 billion. In January, the last vestiges of duty and tariffs on Chinese-produced apparel evaporated under World Trade Organization rules.

And what a difference it made, with big increases in the two major apparel groups knit apparel imports from China increased more than 91 percent and non-knit apparel increased 58 percent.

Mexico was a big loser in apparel imports to the United States, as was South Korea.

U.S. imports from apparel producers in this hemisphere Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic showed slight overall increases in this period, though not all increased their trade with South Florida.

Canada remains the United States’ No. 1 trade partner, with more trade than Mexico and China combined. Canadian trade grew to $118 billion, increasing 12.2 percent while Mexican trade grew to $66.9 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent.

There are two changes among the Top 10 France moved ahead of Taiwan to capture the No. 8 rank and Italy, previously No. 11, slipped into the Top 10. Ireland, previously No. 10, fell to No. 12.

The top-ranked Latin American nations are Brazil, which moved up one notch to No. 14, and Venezuela, which moved up two to No. 15. South Florida accounts for about 22 percent of Brazil’s U.S. trade, more than any other Customs district. Venezuela’s total trade is highest with Houston.

The U.S. trade deficit, at a record $166.5 billion, increased more than 23 percent in the first quarter. The U.S. trade deficit with China increased to $42 billion, or slightly more than one-fourth of the total.

The United States also has large trade deficits with Canada, Mexico, Japan and Germany. The United States has trade surpluses with a number of countries as well, including the Netherlands, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. In fact, of the Top 25 nations with which the United States has a surplus, 13 are in Latin America or the Caribbean, including a $95.4 million surplus with Cuba.

Oil replaced cars as the No. 1 import into the United States in the first quarter, though the two obviously are inextricably linked. Refined petroleum products and car parts are also leading imports. Overall, imports grew about 15 percent.

On the export side, the increase was just under 9 percent. The No. 1 export, computer microprocessors, actually fell in the first quarter, when compared to 2004. Car parts, No. 2, also decreased although cars, at No. 3, surged nearly 40 percent.