EXPORTS OF U.S. GOODS AND SERVICES DROP OVER ’08 LEVELS

News Date September 15, 2009

The Department of Commerce recently released its July Report of US International Trade in Goods and Services.  Through the first seven months of 2009 (January – July), U.S. goods and services exports totaled $867.6 billion, a 20.3 percent decline through the same period of 2008. Comparatively, U.S. goods and service imports fell faster than exports, with imports declining 29.2 percent through the first seven months of 2009 (when compared to the year earlier period). 

When compared to June 2009, U.S. exports of goods and services increased by 2.2 percent in July 2009 to $127.6 billion and imports increased 4.7 percent to $159.6 billion.  Over the same period, the U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased by 16.3 percent to $32.0 billion when compared to June 2009. The largest export markets for U.S. goods year-to-date through July 2009 were Canada ($112.6 billion), Mexico ($69.8 billion), China ($35.7 billion), Japan ($28.9 billion), and the United Kingdom ($26.7 billion).

In a statement following the report’s release, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk said: "The United States has seen three consecutive months of export growth and two consecutive months of import growth. This is consistent with a global economy that is getting back on track. It is critical that we continue to increase exports of American goods and services to the world, which would help create more jobs for the American people. At the WTO ministerial meeting last week in India, I reaffirmed the commitment by the United States to reach a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda. Additionally, under the leadership of President Obama, USTR will continue our work to open new markets throughout the globe for American businesses and to step up trade enforcement to ensure our trading partners play by the rules and promote fair, rules-based competition in the U.S. market." The report can be found online.  (Contact: Amy Mann)