CBP: U.S. import value could rise 6% in ?10

CBP: U.S. import value could rise 6% in Æ10    After falling sharply in 2009, U.S. imports began to return to normal during the first half of the government’s fiscal year and are now approaching 2006 levels, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in its mid-year report on trade trends.
   Continued growth in 2010 could reach the level of imports seen in 2007, before the global recession put the brakes on economic activity.
   Total value of U.S. imports cleared by CBP in fiscal year 2009 fell 25 percent to $1.7 trillion. The agency projects 6 percent growth in imports to $1.8 trillion in 2010.
   The government’s fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
   Other highlights of the report include:
   ' CBP collected $15 billion in revenue during the first six months of the fiscal year and expects to collect $31 billion by year’s end. It collected $30 billion last year. The revenue came from only 29 percent of the goods because the rest enter the country duty free or under trade preference programs.
   ' A total of $130 million in antidumping/counterveiling duties were collected in fiscal year 2010, down slightly from the previous year.
   ' CBP said the amount of uncollected duties slightly rose last year to 1.4 percent after several years of closing the revenue gap.
   ' It said 98.6 percent of shipments were in compliance with trade rules, up slightly from recent years.
   ' Entry volume through March was 13 million and CBP expects entries to increase 5 percent from 2009 to 27 million.
   ' China last year surpassed Canada as the United States’ top source of imported goods and is expected to hold its lead at least through 2011.
   The improving health of import volumes suggests the U.S. economy is improving, but it also is measured against productivity by the Census Bureau when compiling gross domestic product figures. Higher imports lower GDP.