Colography Group: Trade imbalance with China ballooned in 2005

Colography Group: Trade imbalance with China ballooned in 2005    Shipping between the United States and China in 2005 grew at a faster pace than between the United States and all world markets, with a dramatic widening of the trade imbalance between the two countries, The Colography Group Inc. said today.
   U.S. imports by all modes from China last year rose 19.2 percent to 129.6 billion pounds, according to The Colography Group data, in a summary of its annual analysis of air and ocean trade between the United States and 224 of its trading partners. The value of those imports soared 24.4 percent to $235.2 billion. By contrast, total U.S. import tonnage, including from China, rose 4.2 percent. Import value increased 15.1 percent, largely due to the run-up in petroleum prices.
   The United States exported 74.2 billion pounds to China last year, up less than 2 percent from 2004. The value of those goods rose 13 percent. Total U.S. exports, including China, reached 791.2 billion pounds, a 1.2 percent gain. The value of those goods rose just less than 10 percent.
   In the ocean trade, nearly 128 billion pounds of Chinese exports arrived at U.S. ports last year, a 19 percent increase from 2004 levels.    The value of sea-freighted goods from China rose 21 percent to $180 billion. By contrast, U.S. ocean exports to China grew less than 2 percent to 73.9 billion pounds. U.S. ocean export value grew 16 percent to $23.4 billion.
   The vessel trade imbalance with China had a direct impact on total directional flows, The Colography Group said. Last year, 2.2 trillion pounds valued at $889 billion were imported into the United States by sea, dwarfing the 785 billion pounds (valued at $261.8 billion) exported from the United States on the water.
   About 1.8 billion pounds — nearly 20 percent of all U.S.-bound air trade — originated in China last year, a 21 percent increase from 2004 levels. The value of those imports totaled $54.8 billion, 37 percent above 2004. U.S. air exports to China gained in 2005, though at a much slower pace and at much lower levels than comparable imports from China. Volume grew 3 percent to 265.3 million pounds, while the value of those goods rose 8 percent to $11 billion.
   From the United States, 5.9 billion pounds of air freight was exported globally in 2005, up 1.4 percent from 2004, The Colography Group said. The value of those goods rose 7.9 percent to $254.3 billion. Total U.S. air import tonnage was virtually flat year-over-year at 9.2 billion pounds. Air import value rose 8.5 percent to $375.9 billion.
   “For each pound air shipped to China, about seven pounds were imported,” said Ted Scherck, president of The Colography Group, in a statement. “For every dollar of air value exported to China, nearly five dollars was imported. In the ocean trade, imports from China swelled by more than 20 billion pounds, while exports, albeit off a smaller base, rose only by 1.4 billion pounds. The data quantifies the oft-stated belief the widening U.S. trade gap with China shows little signs of narrowing.”