Trade enhances the quality of life for all Americans and contributes
to America's prosperity from Oregon to New York and Arizona to Kentucky.
Openness to international trade encourages productivity gains and
improved competitiveness. Doing business internationally has
allowed U.S. businesses, including small and medium-size enterprises,
to grow in markets outside of the United States and prosper globally.
Here are some other trade facts you might not know:
- The successful completion of the current multilateral trade negotiations could result in an additional $2,000 of purchasing power each year for an average family of four.
- U.S. exports to all 14 FTA countries have grown nearly 40 percent faster than U.S. exports to the world.
- U.S. small businesses export one billion dollars per day of goods and services.
- Small businesses represent 97% of all U.S. exporters, and produced 28.6 percent of the known export value in FY 2004.
- More than two-thirds of SME exporters are non-manufacturers.
- More than two-thirds of U.S. exporters have fewer than 20 employees.
- Exporting firms also offer better opportunities for advancement, expand their annual total sales about 0.6 to 1.3 percent faster, and are nearly 8.5 percent less likely to go out of business.
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Small Businesses account for:
- 7 out of 10 new jobs
- More than 50% of U.S. economic output
- 90% of U.S. high-tech exports
- America's 22.4 million small businesses are the principal source of new jobs, employ 51 percent of the workforce and generate more than 52 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
- Small businesses have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade.
- Jobs supported by goods exports pay 13-18% higher than the average wage.
- One in three acres of U.S. agricultural production is exported.
- U.S. agricultural exports were valued at over $14 billion.
- In 1950, trade accounted for less than 5.5 percent of U.S. economic growth. Today, it has become an integral part of everyday life, accounting for more than 23 percent of economic growth in 2002 (25 percent in 2000).
- In 2006 U.S. exports grew by 12.7 percent over 2005 to $1.4 trillion. To compare, in 2005 Japan's GDP was $4.91 trillion and Russia's GDP was $733 billion.
- Over one-fifth of the growth in U.S. GDP depended on exports in 2005.
- Domestically, manufacturing exports supported an estimated 5.2 million jobs (in 2002 - latest data), including 1 in 5 manufacturing jobs.
- In 2004, the United States, already the world's largest exporting country, set an all-time record for exports.
- Two-thirds of the world's purchasing power is located outside of the United States, and with the declining value of the dollar, our exports become cheaper for the world's consumers.
- Exports have been growing two to three times faster than the economy as a whole.
- The top 5 foreign job creators in the U.S. are, in order, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and France.
- U.S. subsidiaries employ 5.1 million Americans.
- U.S. subsidiaries of companies headquartered abroad support an annual payroll of $335.9 billion - with average compensation per worker of $66,042, which is 32 percent higher than compensation at all U.S. companies.
- U.S. subsidiaries heavily invest in the American manufacturing sector; with 30 percent of the jobs at U.S. subsidiaries in manufacturing industries.
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. totaled $183.5 billion in 2006; an increase of 67 percent from the previous year.
- U.S. subsidiaries also spent $108 billion plant construction and new equipment.
