U.S. chemical trade surplus continues to slide

Abstract

International economics have been chipping away at the U.S. chemical industry's prized trade surplus. The surplus has been heading downward over the past few years, and numbers for 1994 through May show that last year's predictions of a turnaround in the decline were overly optimistic (C&EN, Dec. 13,1993, page 36). Expect some modest further slippage this says Allen J. Lenz, the Chemical Manufacturers Association's director of economics. Both exports and imports are climbing, but imports are growing faster. CMA estimates that 1994 exports will rise to $47.7 billion, and imports to $32.6 billion, resulting in a $15.1 billion trade surplus, down 5.0% from the $15.9 billion surplus in 1993. That follows last year's 5.1% drop from the $16.8 billion surplus in 1992, and a steep 13% drop in 1992 from the 1991 surplus peak of $19.2 billion. With a $1.53 billion trade surplus for May and $6.45 billion for the first five months this year, the chemicals and ...