New Data: U.S. Industry Is Swamped by Imports

By Matthew McMullan
Apr 20 2015 |
The imports just keep a-comin’. | Photo by flickr user Bryce David.

The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $67.4 billion combined in its top 30 exporting industries in 2013.

We have new data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on this fine Monday, on the state of U.S. goods trade deficits.

Unfortunately, the new data paints the same old picture, and it’s not a pretty one: America is the most open market in the world, and the second largest goods exporter. But it’s the only major exporter that consistently runs trade deficits for decades at a time.

Ugh. We are bummed.

Among the brief’s findings:

  • The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $67.4 billion combined in its top 30 exporting industries in 2013.
  • China, Germany, and Japan ran sizable trade surpluses in the same 30 exporting industries, ranging from $223.2 billion in Japan to $647.7 billion in China.
  • The United States was far and away the most open of the four markets in its top 30 export industries. Overall, exports averaged only 91.5 percent of imports in these industries—in other words, imports exceeded exports by 9.5 percent in these top 30 U.S. exporting industries.

What causes this mess? EPI’s Rob Scott, who authored the report, has answer for that:

The U.S. trade deficit in its top 30 export industries is a consequence of its toleration of massive currency manipulation over many years by China, Japan, and about 20 other countries, the failure to eliminate widespread tariff and nontariff barriers to U.S. exports, and the failure to develop effective strategies for rebuilding U.S. manufacturing.

Sustained trade deficits do not a solid economy make. You know what to do, America: Tell Congress to enforce our trade laws.