Persistent sluggishness in world trade, along with a slowdown in commercial airplanes, again put the brakes on America's most trade-dependent state.
War on the Korean peninsula or a nuclear exchange between two hotheads could stop trade in a hurry. But even without that, world trade is continuing a slowdown that began in 2011.
According to WISERtrade, which collects import and export data, Washington exports were down more than 4 percent through June compared with the same period last year. Cereals rose more than 47 percent and industrial machinery nearly 20 percent. But this wasn’t enough to offset declines in big-ticket exports such as airplanes and parts, down nearly 14 percent.
By the numbers, state exports totaled $36.3 billion through the first half of the year. They ended last year at $79.6 billion, well below the $86.4 billion in 2015 and $90.6 billion in 2014.
Fun fact: Washington exports to South Korea were down nearly 8 percent. Exports to our largest trading partner, China, were off nearly 4 percent compared with last June.
Most Read Business Stories
The causes behind the worldwide slowdown are many, including slower growth in China, falling commodity prices and what Federal Reserve researchers pinpointed last year as deceleration of trade liberalization. And we haven’t even entered the brave new world of Trump’s promised “America first” trade policy. Even if it’s a developer’s con game, the uncertainty can’t be helping.
So, even with the somewhat weaker dollar, exports are on track to show another decline for 2017.
Today’s Econ Haiku:
Goldwater scared us
With Kremlin men’s room humor
Daisy girl’s grown now