China surpasses Canada as top exporter to U.S.

Hat tip to World Trade Magazine who mentioned this handy fact in one of their auto-e-mails. I looked up the numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission and sure enough there’s China in the number 1 spot. Lead paint in toys and ant-freeze in toothpaste be damned, China’s exports to the U.S. rose by 11.7% to finally overtake Canada as the number 1 exporter to the U.S. in 2007 with $321.5 billion of merchandise compared to $313.1 billion for Canada. Here’s a full list of the top 10 exporters to the U.S. in 2007, the value of merchandise, and the percent change from 2006-2007:

1. China - $321.5 billion (+11.7%)
2. Canada - $313.1 billion (+3.2%)
3. Mexico - $210.8 billion (+6.3%)
4. Japan - $145.5 billion (-1.8%)
5. Germany - $94.4 billion (+5.9%)
6. United Kingdom - $56.9 billion (+6.5%)
7. Korea - $47.6 billion (+3.8%)
8. France - $41.6 billion (+12%)
9. Venezuela - $39.9 billion (+7.4%)
10. Taiwan - $38.3 billion (+0.20%)

Looking at the top 50 I was not surprised to see Vietnam increase by 24.10% to $10.6 billion in merchandise, passing up countries like Spain, Colombia, the Philippines, and South Africa. I don’t know what we buy from Austria but they saw the largest gain, percentage-wise, increasing a whopping 28.6% from $8.3 billion in 2006 to $10.7 billion in 2007.

The biggest losers?

Turkey: -14.2%
Ecuador: -13.5%
Hong Kong: -11.5%
Peru: -11.4%
Malaysia: -10.2%