Trade News: Foreign Direct Investment and International Trade Deficits

EXPORTS 2.0:  From Wharton Magazine by Alexander Gordin, Managing Director, Broad Street Capital Group; Trustee, Princeton Council on World Affairs. “Exporting American-made goods and services has become a hot topic as the U.S. slowly rebounds from one of the worst economic recessions. Timing is everything. And with a favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollar, our exports are even more competitive in overseas markets.” Fundamentally transforming the way American businesses think of exports and international business is critical to the expansion of U.S. export and foreign direct investment. Here’s how:

1. Comprehensive Education of Exporters and International Investors.
2. Enhanced Export and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Infrastructure.
3. Increased National Focus on Exports.
4. Build a “Securities” Market Approach to Exports and Foreign Direct Investment.

From ICTSD • International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development: Foreign Investment Rebounding, Non-Equity Modes of Production Key for Development: UNCTAD: Global foreign direct investment (FDI) will rebound to pre-crisis levels by 2013, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in their 2011 World Investment Report. The report argues that, although global FDI is still 15 percent below its pre-crisis average, FDI will likely grow to US$1.4-1.6 trillion in 2011, approaching its 2007 peak by 2013.

From BEA International Economics Accounts: U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, May 2011.  The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced that total May exports of $174.9 billion and imports of $225.1 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $50.2 billion, up from $43.6 billion in April.

In a related post from International Trade- CRS REPORTS: U.S. Trade Deficit and the Impact of Changing Oil Prices. Petroleum prices have risen sharply since September 2010, at times reaching more than $112 per barrel of crude oil. Although this is still below the $140 per barrel price reached in 2008, the rising cost of energy is beginning to affect the rate of growth in the economy. Turmoil in the Middle East has been an important factor causing petroleum prices to rise sharply in the first four months of 2011, which could add as much as $100 billion to the U.S. trade deficit in 2011.

From Global Reach: Foreign Trade Regulations: U.S. Working with Canada to Improve Trade Statistics! The Monitoring Committee, comprised of Statistics Canada (STC) and the U.S. Census Bureau (Census), has met semi-annually over the past several years. The purpose of these meetings is to identify and address operational issues that might affect the successful operation of the data exchange. This article is a follow-up to the previous post, The United States – Canada Data Exchange.  The United States and Canada enjoy an economic partnership that is unique in the world. The two nations share the world’s largest and most comprehensive trading relationship. Did you know that the two countries also share an agreement to exchange import statistics?