The Egyptian Trade Representation Office in the United States on Saturday issued a report on commercial relations between Egypt and the US from January to July 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, stating that exports have increased by 37.5 percent to US$1.892 million in January-July 2019, compared to $1,375 million in that period during 2018.
According to the report, the volume of commercial exchange between the two countries increased by 19.7 percent to $5,355 million from January to July 2019, compared to $4,471 million from January-July 2018.
The non-oil Egyptian exports increased by 31.7 percent to $1,229 million during the same period in 2019, compared to $933 million in 2018. Egypt’s non-oil exports accounted for 65 percent of the total Egyptian exports to the US, the report added.
The report also mentioned that the Egyptian oil exports increased by 50 percent, to $662.9 million from January to July 2019, compared to $441.8 million during the same period in 2018, accounting for 35 percent of total exports to the US.
The exports of the Qualified Industrial Zones increased by 14.3 percent to reach $586.8 million from January to July 2019, compared to $513.2 million in the same period of 2018, the report said, while exports under the system of net benefits increased by 112.1 percent, to $112.3 million in 2019 compared to $52.0 million in 2018.
Egyptian imports meanwhile increased by 11.8 percent to $3,463 million in January-July 2019, compared to $3,096 million in that period of 2018.
The trade deficit between the two countries decreased from January-July 2019 by 8.7 percent, compared to the same period in 2018.
The report clarified that the most important items in Egyptian exports are textiles and garments, valued at $660.4 million, accounting for 35 percent of Egypt’s total exports to the United States, followed by artworks, valued at $117.7 million, and then plastics and their products, valued at $62.2 million.
The increase in Egyptian exports to the US market is due to the efforts of the Egyptian Commercial Office in Washington to facilitate the access of Egyptian products to the US and make maximum use of the bilateral trade agreements signed between Egypt and the US, said the Undersecretary of the Trade and Industry Ministry Ahmed Antar.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
