Mexico, Canada, China, Germany, and Japan were the top U.S. trading partners in 2023, according to data from the International Trade Commission (USITC).
On the demand side, total merchandise imports to the United States were $3.08 billion 080.2 billion in 2023, down 4.9% year-over-year.
International merchandise trade
Canada’s imports registered a 4.3% decrease. In contrast, Mexico’s imports increased 5.1% compared to 2022. This increase allowed Mexico to displace China from the top position as an exporter to the United States, considering individual countries.
In addition, this shift led to a modest 0.5% increase in total imports from USMCA trading partners. On the other hand, imports from South Korea and other free trade agreement (FTA) partners grew 0.7% and 2.5%, respectively, between 2022 and 2023. This contributed positively to the overall increase in imports from all FTA partners.
However, U.S. imports from non-FTA countries suffered a drop of 8.1% over the same period. This decline had a significant impact on the overall decline in U.S. imports.
Imports from the European Union, the largest source of U.S. imports in 2023, increased 4.2 percent.
China slipped from second to third largest source of imports after U.S. imports from China plummeted by $109.4 billion, or 20.4 percent.
Similarly, imports from Japan, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam experienced declines.
Major U.S. trading partners
On the supply side, total merchandise exports from the United States were $2.018.1 billion in 2023, down 2.3 percent from 2022.
U.S. exports to the European Union, which is the top U.S. export destination in 2023, grew 5.0% compared to 2022. However, exports to other major trading partners showed a downward trend.
In particular, combined exports to the USMCA partners, i.e., Canada and Mexico, decreased 0.9%. In addition, exports to South Korea fell 9.8% during the same period.
On the other hand, exports to other free trade agreement (FTA) partners suffered a more significant drop, reaching 5.5% from 2022 to 2023.