EXPORTS

Exports are goods and services that are produced in one country but shipped to another country for consumption. Some examples would be lumber grown in the United States but shipped to Japan; U.S. wheat shipped to Russia; Hollywood movies sent around the world; and U.S. jet fighter planes made here but sold to allied nations such as Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The United States exports thousands of types of goods and services. The United States, however, exports a relatively small portion of its total output, generally less than 10 percent, compared to some other nations. Some European nations, for example, export 25 percent or more of their total production. Where there is a difference between the amount that a country imports and the amount it exports, a trade imbalance exists.

The United States, which has the wealth to import a vast array of goods from around the world, typically runs a rather large trade deficit with other nations. This deficit worries many government officials who fear that U.S. citizens are supporting foreign workers with their dollars, but not workers at home. Because of such fears, many governments try to increase the export of their own goods and decrease imports. There are various ways to do this. Nations may give exporting companies tax breaks to encourage them to send their products overseas. Or they may create special banks whose job is to loan money to firms that export goods.