Kaleej Times – US Arab Trade Outlook
Sales of American merchandise to the Arab world in 2006 topped $35 billion, a 28 per cent increase over the previous year. The outlook for 2007 is even more promising, with estimated US sales surging to $45 billion, according to the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy.
US-Arab bilateral trade reached $109 billion in 2006, an increase of 25 per cent over 2005 levels. Total Arab market imports are expected to reach $405 billion, an 11 per cent increase over year 2006.
According to the report, the single most important factor in the rise of US exports in 2006 was the depreciating dollar, which made US goods very competitive against comparable products from Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. In 2006, the value of the dollar fell about 10 per cent against the euro, and a further decline is taking place in 2007. The continuing weakness of the dollar will cause US global exports to grow by double digits throughout 2007, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Kaleej Times report (HTML) Full Trade Report (HTML)