EXPORTS, IMPORTS, and TRADE BALANCE

KEY TRENDS

• China continued to grow as the United States’s major trading partner in electronics.
  
  
• U.S. imports of computers, peripherals, and parts accounted for the greatest increase ($12 billion), driven by factors such as increased production in overseas facilities and increased demand for computer hardware by consumers and businesses that are adopting newer technologies.
  
  
• In 2004 the United States experienced its first trade deficit in medical goods in decades. The European Union and China were responsible for much of the growth in U.S. imports of medical goods in 2004. U.S. imports from Ireland increased 42 percent to $4.1 billion in 2004, which was more than five times the level that it supplied to the United States in 2000. This was due in part to an increase capacity in many manufacturing facilities of U.S.-headquartered companies located in Ireland.
  
  
• Despite record global semiconductor sales, U.S. semiconductor exports declined $582 million. This decline, coupled with an increase in U.S. imports of $2.1 billion, led to a decrease in the U.S. trade surplus for semiconductors, marking the first time in the last 5 years that the surplus in semiconductors has decreased. These trade shifts occurred principally because of the growth of semiconductor production in Asia.

TRADE SHIFTS in 2004 from 2003

• U.S. trade deficit: Increased $32.7 billion (33 percent) to $130.7 billion
• U.S. exports: Increased $8.6 billion (6 percent) to $149.5 billion
• U.S. imports: Increased $41.3 billion (17 percent) to $280.1 billion
• Telephone and Telegraph Apparatus; Television Receivers and Video Monitors; Semiconductors and Integrated Circuits;Computers, Peripherals, and Parts; and Medical Goods exhibited the largest shifts.

LINKS

USITC PUBLICATIONS
Working Paper

• The Liberalization of India’s Telecommunications Sector: Implications for Trade and Investment

OTHER GOVERNMENT RESOURCES
Executive Office of the President

• Office of Science and Technology Policy

U.S. Department of Commerce

• National Telecommunications and Information Administration

International Trade Administration

• Office of Technology and Electronic Commerce
• Health Industries
  

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

• Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Medical Device Reporting

SECTOR SHIFTS

| Agricultural Products | Forest Products | Chemicals and Related Products |
| Energy and Related Products | Textiles, Apparel, and Footwear |
| Minerals and Metals | Machinery | Transportation Equipment |
| Electronic Products | Miscellaneous Manufactures |

COUNTRY SHIFTS