Source: http://worldcityweb.com/home/MIA/statistics/view/119/

Miami-Japan Annual Report: No. 22 trade partner- Import hike causes trade boost

July 27th, 2006

Import hike causes trade boost

South Florida’s exports to Japan were off significantly last year, but a jump in imports kept the trade tally growing.

The Japanese government expects strong and steady economic growth this year thanks to its strengthened imports.

The Miami Customs District already got a taste of that trend in 2005 when its shipments from Japan rose nearly 25 percent in an overall trade exchange that tallied $860 million enough to keep Japan in the roster of South Florida’s Top 25 traders.

Japan and No. 7 China are the only Asian countries among Miami’s most important trade partners.

Imports far outweighed exports in a trade exchange that has traditionally been lopsided in favor of Japan. Transmission apparatus for cell phones and heavy construction machinery posted the biggest import gains, rising 52 percent and 64 percent, respectively. Imports of cell phone transmission devices totaled $112 million. Construction machinery imports neared $98 million.

Computer part imports also rose notably in value, jumping 26 percent to $55 million.

The import dominance tendency echoes Japanese trade patterns with the United States as a whole. The United States and Japan exchanged $193.5 billion in goods in 2005, but the trade deficit was $83 billion. A year earlier the shortfall had been $75 billion.

South Florida imports of Japanese-made color televisions and computer screens dipped nearly 2 percent to almost $31 million. That reflected the global shift in TV and monitor production to Mexico and China.

On the other side of the trade equation, citrus fruit was South Florida’s top export to Japan, although that was down 32 percent to $29 million. Fruit juice exports were also off, falling 24 percent to $8 million. U.S. citrus exports especially organic fruits have been losing ground to competition from Brazil. Japan is the world’s third most important orange juice market after the United States and Europe.

The Miami Customs District did manage to boost its exports of aircraft components. Regional jet parts rose 83 percent to nearly $17 million while other aircraft parts dipped 3.5 percent to total $11 million

Although Japan is an important trade partner for Miami, U.S. trade with Japan is mostly handled by ports in California. Congested Los Angeles-area ports accounted for $46.4 billion of the cargo exchange in 2005, while San Diego was used as a support hub with $22 billion in trade. San Francisco, meanwhile, posted $16.3 billion in trade with Japan.

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