26 April 2011
The United States set new records for total trade and total exports through the first two months of 2011, according to WorldCity analysis of the most recently released Census Bureau trade data
Total imports were the second-greatest total on record, falling 3.1 percent short of the 2008 record. The United States' trade deficit through February was the fifth highest on record for the same two-month period.
Total U.S. trade was $543.17 billion through the first two months of 2001, an increase of 18.9 percent. Total exports were valued at $220.04 billion, an increase of 18.05 percent. Total imports were $323.09 billion, an increase of 19.49 percent. The trade deficit was $103.05 billion, lowere than the total during the first two months of 2005, 2006, 2006 and 2008, when trade was growing rapidly.
New York City is currently the nation's No. 1-ranked trade partner, ahead of Los Angeles which has finished the year as No. 1 19 times in the last two decades. New York City was also ahead of Los Angeles through February in 2009. Ten of the top 15 Customs districts set new records for total trade, the exceptions being Detroit, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Buffalo. In all five cases, the record year was 2008, before the global recession.
Houston, one of the 10 top 15 Customs districts running at a record level, passed Detroit to rank No. 3, New Orleans, Laredo and Chicago ranked No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, all establishing new records. The Atlanta/Savannah Customs district advanced two in the rankings, to No. 8, passing Seattle and San Francisco on the way to record trade through the first two months of the year.
No. 11 Miami, No. 12 Cleveland and No. 15 El Paso also set new records.
Among the top 25 countries, 12 set new records but 13 did not. Those that did not set records were dominated by European nations (No. 5 Germany, No. 6 United Kingdom, No. 10 France, No. 11 Netherlands, No. 17 Belgium and No. 18 Italy) but included No. 1 Canada, No. 4 Japan, No. 12 Venezuela, No. 13 Saudi Arabia, No. 19 Nigeria, no. 21 Malaysia and No. 23 Israel.
The nations off to a record-breaking start in 2011 include No. 2 China, No. 3 Mexico, No. 7 South Korea, No. 8 Taiwan, No. 9 Brazil, No. 14 Singapore, No. 15 India, No. 16 Ireland, No. 20 Switzerland, No. 22 Hong Kong, No. 24 Thailand and No. 25 Russia.
Seven of the top 10 exports set new records through February, including No. 1 refined petroleum, which increased $5.67 billion, and No. 10 gold, which increased 1.2 billion. Three other exports increased more than $1 billion through the first two months of 2011, even though they were not among the top 10 U.S. exports: No. 14 cotton, up $1.56 billion; No. 16 coal, up $1.07 billion; and no. 18 wheat, up $1.05 billion.
Only four top 10 imports set a new record for the first two months of the year, No. 4 cell phones, landlines and other phone equipment; No. 5 computers; No. 6 medic9ine; and No. 9 computer chips. No. 1 oil, No. 2 motor vehicles, No. 3 refined petroleum, No. 7 motor vehicle parts and No. 10 TVs and computer monitors all fell short of the record-setting pace of 2008 while No. 8 imports of returned exports was below the record set during the same two months of 2010.