Total US exports to Saudi Arabia increased to more than $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2003, from $985 million in the first quarter of 2002, according to the latest statistics from the Foreign Trade Division of the US Census Bureau.
This represents a 12.3 percent increase from 2002 to 2003. The largest export categories were transportation equipment, industrial machinery and computers.
The increase in US exports follows a period in which exports declined about 20 percent, from $5.97 billion in 2001 to $4.78 billion in 2002. Many attributed this decline to strains in the US-Saudi relationship brought about after September 11.
However, these reports did not tell the whole story. The majority of this decline was accounted for in two categories. Aircraft and related materials declined substantially from 2001 to 2002 because 2001 exports included the final delivery of a $7.2 billion aircraft order.
The other major category was tobacco, which declined sharply in 2002 in large part due to the Saudi Government’s doubling of the tariff rate on cigarettes. If these two categories are omitted, US exports declined only about two percent between 2001 and 2002.
In fact, exports in many industrial categories actually increased in 2002, and the increase in overall exports thus far in 2003 is further evidence that US-Saudi business ties remain strong. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
