U.S. exports for March reach $193.9B

   The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday reported that the country’s exports of goods and services in March increased to $193.9 billion from $190 billion in February.
   Record exports in services were led by royalties and license fees and other private services. In March, U.S. businesses boosted exports to Canada, South Korea and the countries in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, according to the department.
   The U.S. Export-Import Bank noted the countries with the largest annualized increase in U.S. goods purchases over the past 12 months, when compared to 2009, were Panama (23.5 percent), Russia (19.4 percent), Peru (18.2 percent), Hong Kong (18.1 percent), Colombia (17.8 percent), Argentina (16.5 percent), Chile (15.9 percent), United Arab Emirates (15.3 percent), China (14.8 percent) and Indonesia (14.7 percent).
   U.S. exports during the first quarter of 2014 totaled $576.3 billion, exceeding the first quarter of 2013 by 3.2 percent. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the country’s exporters “are off to a great start in the first quarter” of the year.
   The United States exported a record $2.3 trillion dollars last year, up nearly $700 billion from 2009.