Press Release

Secretary Gutierrez Praises Rising Exports

WASHINGTON—U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlo M. Gutierrez today issued the following statement on the release of the May 2007 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report by the Department’s U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Today’s report shows that U.S. exports increased by 10.8 percent to $644.1 billion year-to-date (through May) over the same period in 2006. Imports increased 4.5 percent to $939.6 billion. Although there was a small increase in the trade deficit between April and May, on a year-to-date basis, the deficit narrowed 7.0 percent or $22.3 billion compared to the same period in 2006.

“These are strong numbers. Exports are growing more than twice as fast as imports. The trade statistics show – when it comes to the U.S. economy and boosting jobs, trade matters. Increased exports create higher paying jobs here in America for our workers and helps drive our national prosperity.

“America benefits enormously from trade by increasing exports to markets around the world. Free trade agreements (FTAs) help our companies, farmers and manufacturers sell American goods and services to new markets around the world. Our FTAs are only 7.5 percent of global GDP, but remarkably, more than 42 percent of all U.S. exports are headed to our FTA partners. Last year, exports to the 11 countries with which we implemented FTAs between 2001 and 2006 grew faster than U.S. exports to the rest of the world.

“The May 10th bipartisan agreement on trade, presents an incredible opportunity to expand this record of success by moving forward on pending free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea. U.S. exporters need these agreements.

“In addition to their enormous geopolitical importance, our trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea will level the playing field for American businesses, workers and farmers.

“Failing to provide Peru, Colombia and Panama with opportunities to advance economically could push them towards alternative, damaging visions offered by others. Economic growth empowers people with the tools to decrease poverty, encourage creativity, innovation and individualism—delivering true social justice to all. These agreements will further open markets in countries that already receive duty-free treatment for the vast majority of their products entering the U.S.

“The U.S.- Korea Free Trade Agreement signed on June 30 is the biggest trade deal for the United States in nearly 15 years. The Korea FTA opens a huge Asian market to U.S. exporters and will allow the U.S. to diversify our trade in Asia.

“The Administration is committed to the May 10th bipartisan agreement and I look forward to working with Congress to pass these historic free trade agreements. I hope Congress will show good faith to our trading partners by taking legislative action on Peru this July.”

Background:
Bilateral free trade agreements are one of the best ways to open up foreign markets to U.S. exporters. Currently more than 100 regional trade agreements are being negotiated around the world. Today, the United States has FTAs implemented with 14 countries. Last year, trade with countries with which the United States has FTAs was significantly greater than their relative share of the global economy. Although comprising 7.5 percent of global GDP, not including the United States, those FTA countries accounted for more than 42 percent of U.S. exports.

According to the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, last year the U.S. exported more than $32.4 billion worth of products to Korea, increasing 44 percent since 2002. Peru and Colombia both increased imports from the U.S. by more than 87 percent, purchasing more than $2.9 and $6.7 billion respectively. Exports to Panama experienced the greatest percentage change, increasing more than 92 percent since 2002, with more than $2.7 billion in products exported in 2006.

For more information, please visit http://trade.gov/fta/index.asp.