Malaysia’s exports to US surge although overall imports into US decline
NEW YORK: Although overall US imports have been declining, Malaysia’s exports to the US have surged, defying the general trend.
“While the overall trend suggests that US global trade had declined, Malaysia’s trade surged during the first two months of 2016 according to the US Department of Commerce,” the New York-based Malaysian Trade Commissioner, Muhd Shahrulmiza Zakaria, said in an interview with Bernama.
Malaysia’s exports to the US, according to Malaysia External Trade Development Corp’s (Matrade) office here, posted a 6.9 per cent growth to US$5.1 billion (US$1 at RM3,90) during the first two months of this year.
The Commerce Department figures showed that total trade between US and Malaysia expanded in 2015 to US$46.1 billion, up six per cent from US$43.5 billion in 2014.
Malaysia’s exports to the US amounted to US$33.8 billion, up 11.2 per cent from 2014 (at US$30.4 billion).
The country rose to become the 14th overall source of imports for the US and was second behind Vietnam (11th) among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries.
Malaysia’s imports from the US, however, fell 5.9 per cent to US$12.3 billion, down from US$13 billion in 2014.
The country’s trade surplus with the US surged by 24.1 per cent to US$21.53 billion in 2015 and rose to the 10th overall largest trade deficit with the US.
Foreign companies, Shahrulmiza said, invested in a supplying country, primarily, to get quality products that were eventually exported to developed markets where the production and labour costs were much higher.