U.S. Reports Record Exports in 2006

It just makes sense that industrialized nations fair far better economically when they export (sell) more products than they import (buy). For the first time in a long time our own industrialized nation made significant progress toward doing that last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In releasing the 2006 U.S. Exports Fact Sheet (.pdf), Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez announced that the U.S. had exported an all-time record high $1.4 trillion in goods and services in 2006, the first time in near a decade that the growth rate of exports (12.7 percent) outpaced the growth rate of imports (10.5 percent).

In raw dollars, our $1.4 trillion in exports was still exceeded by imports at $2.2 billion.

The 2006 trade number also show:

• While petroleum imports reached a record high of $303 billion in 2006, the rate of growth declined by nearly half, slowing from 39.6 percent in 2005 to 20.1 percent in 2006. Excluding petroleum products, the U.S. goods trade deficit grew by only 1.7 percent ($8.9 billion) in 2006.

• International travel is one of the largest exports for the United States, ranking ahead of agricultural goods and motor vehicles. Just about everything foreign visitors spend while visiting the U.S. is counted as an export, including food, lodging, recreations, and gifts. Last year, international visitors spent a record $107.4 billion in travel receipts including passenger fares for the U.S., an increase of 5 percent over 2005.

• Exports comprised 11.1 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, the highest ever in dollar terms. It was 5.2 percent 50 years ago and 9.6 in 2002.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is a regulatory, Cabinet-level agency.

Also See:
Economic Report of the President Released
The President’s Budget: What Your State Would Get
Primer on the U.S. Trade Deficit (US Economy)