11/03/2012 
From the ITA: Top 25 Metro Areas Increase Exports by 21 Percent. In 2010, merchandise trade exports to the world for the 377 (only 369 areas are available due to Federal disclosure regulations) U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) totaled $1.13 trillion, with merchandise exports from non-metropolitan “rural” areas totaling an additional $151.5 billion. Since the launch of the President’s National Export Initiative, merchandise exports from MSAs have increased 15.4 percent over the 2009 U.S. export figure of $975.7 billion.
Although the value of U.S. exports is concentrated in the top metropolitan areas, exporting is an important economic driver in nearly every metropolitan area. In 2010, more than one-third of U.S. metropolitan areas exported more than $1 billion in merchandise to the world. Eight of these metropolitan areas exported merchandise worth more than $25 billion with a further 19 metropolitan areas exporting more than $10 billion.
Among the top 25 MSA exporters, merchandise exports increased 21 percent between 2009 and 2010. This growth rate was consistent across the three largest metropolitan area exporters: New York City up 22 percent, Houston up 22 percent and Los Angeles up 21 percent.
Fourth-ranked Detroit leads metro areas in terms of growth, with 55 percent due mostly to the substantial recovery of the auto industry, as Detroit’s exports of transportation equipment grew 62 percent in 2010 to reach nearly $29 billion.
Find more information on MSA exports, including data and fact sheets for the top 50 exporting MSAs in 2010 available on the Office of Industry Analysis home page.
From Import Genius: A Brief History of International Trade. ImportGenius.com President Ryan Petersen speaks to students at UC Riverside about the history of world trade. Ryan is a very passionate and articulate speaker. It may be worth your time to check out this 45 minute video.
From Euromonitor. Chinese Tourist Arrivals around the World. For the travel and tourism 2012 research edition, Euromonitor International included arrivals from China in its inbound tourism data, where available, even if the arrivals did not make it into the top source markets. The aim is to obtain a greater understanding of which countries Chinese travelers visit internationally.
Regional travel dominates, but the US and France make the top 10:
Not surprisingly, destinations within Asia Pacific are the most popular for Chinese tourists. Shopping and gambling are strong attractions for mainland Chinese visitors to Hong Kong and Macau. Hong Kong has also benefited from the expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme, allowing multiple entries to Hong Kong by Shenzhen residents since 2009. Arrivals from China grew from around 10 million in 2009 to over 13 million in 2011.
More open visa policy to lead to strong growth in arrivals:
The easing of visa restrictions will encourage more Chinese visitors to travel to Hong Kong, South Korea and the US during 2011-2016. According to the executive order signed in January 2012 by President Obama, the US Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security will have to increase visa-processing capacity in China in 2012, as well as interview non-immigrant visa applicants within three weeks of their application for a visa. The executive order also creates a new pilot program for Chinese visa applicants, allowing low-risk applicants to obtain or renew their visas without interviews.
World Trade Daily 
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