OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
There are many opportunities for U.S. businesses to increase revenues and profits by expanding to markets outside North America. Randal Long and SME Development Associates continually watch the improving international business landscape, as consumer economic demographics and psychographics develop in both established and emerging country markets. Often not widely reported in mainstream news media, significant growth has occurred which is conducive to opportunity for American enterprises.
Part of the shift is a result of the declining dollar, which makes exports cheaper when compared to foreign goods and services. However, a more important shift has been the stagnation of U.S. consumer demand for imports combined with … growth in … consumer demand. (Source: The Economist, June trade deficit shrinks as exports climb, August 2008)
Increased demand in China, as well as Brazil, India and Russia, will help cushion the global economy against an extended slowdown. It will also increase U.S. exports, which will boost U.S. production and jobs. In 2008, prior to global economic slowdown, U.S. exports grew faster than China’s.
China is very well known to be the source for much of our imported goods. What is less well know is the trend toward purchase of goods and services from the U.S.
China
n the first six months of this year, U.S. exports to China were 20% higher than the same time period last year, while imports from China were only up 4%. If this U.S. exports to China continue to increase, it would reverse a 10-year trend.
Brazil
Bi-national trade between the United States and Brazil is booming, and despite an overall trade deficit, American manufacturers recognize Brazil as one of the bright spots in the export sector.
In other words, Brazil is already a strong U.S. export destination, but one that has the potential to be even stronger. Watching how U.S.-Brazil trade relations and markets develop, then, will provide exporters with a blueprint to the future of the U.S. export economy. (Source: World Trade Magazine, Exporting to the Americas: Brazil is a Bright Spot for U.S. Exports, January 2008)
“Exports to Brazil are very diverse, they’re not tied into a specific sector,” says Xiomara Creque, a Brazil specialist at the Export-Import Bank in Washington. “A few years ago, we saw a surge. Now, we see export growth in a combination of everything from agriculture to medical products.”
American exports to Brazil are so hot, in fact, that the United States is the number one destination of Brazilian exports and the largest source of its imports—way ahead of neighbors like Argentina and Chile, despite the mutual trade preferences those three nations grant each other under the Mercosur free-trade regime (the United States, with 16.2 percent of Brazil’s import share, nearly doubles that of second-place Argentina). Source: World Trade Magazine, Exporting to the Americas: Brazil is a Bright Spot for U.S. Exports, January 2008
Brazil, like China, India, and other large, fast-developing nations, is an attractive export destination because its industry straddles the line between commodity production and high-end consumer-oriented goods and services. Source: World Trade Magazine, February 2010.
Middle East
In the first half of 2008 US exports to the UAE were up 42% from the same period in 2007, making the UAE the fastest growing market among the United States’ top 20 export markets. Source: US Export Council.
Russia
The Russian Market Holds Long-Term Opportunities for U.S. Exporters
With Russia’s GDP and disposable income levels on the rise in recent years, bilateral trade between the U.S. and Russia has increased. Even as the global economic crisis affects both countries, Russia remains an important market for U.S. businesses.
For additional and current information, go online to: http://www.usrussiatrade.org
Other Market Opportunities
Randal Long has spent many years traveling to, and doing business in, more than 30 countries in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The country markets noted above are only a few of those that offer opportunity for U.S. business extension and expansion. Contact Randal at SME Development Associates for discussion of other, less publicized, but very promising emerging markets.
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