Managing Imports and Exports

Manufacturing Exports To U.S. FTA Partners Yield Trade Surplus

The United States now runs a trade surplus in manufactured exports with its 14 free trade agreement (FTA) partners.

For the first five months of 2008, the trade balance in manufactured goods was $2.7 billion, compared with a $12.3 billion deficit for the same five months in 2007—a dramatic turnaround. That 122 percent improvement in manufactured exports to FTA partners also contrasts sharply with a manufactured…