DOHA: Braving the ongoing blockade and other economic challenges, Qatar has recorded a trade surplus with the US in July this year, which is for the first time in past three years and one of the very rarest in the recent history of bilateral trade. Qatar has also witnessed a surge in its exports to the world’s largest economy (month-on-month).
Qatar’s trade surplus with the US in the month of July was a remarkably positive development as its trade balance (the difference between the value of exports and imports) has always been skewed in favour of the US, the economic giant being one of the largest import destinations for Qatar.
The Qatar-US bilateral trade volume in goods in July 2018 stood at QR1.25bn ($346m), witnessing a sharp jump of over 105 percent (y-o-y) compared to QR611.77m ($168m) for the corresponding month last year, according to the recently released data available at the United States Census Bureau official website.
Qatar’s exports of goods to the US this July surged (y-o-y) to $174.6m, while its imports from the US declined to $171.4m (y-o-y), enabling Qatar to register a trade surplus of $3.2m (QR11.65m) in July 2018 for the first time in several years.
Qatar’s annual trade balances with the US have traditionally been in deficits since the year 2003. The last annual trade surplus of Qatar with the US was $170.7m way back in 2002. However, on monthly basis, when Qatar registered trade surpluses in the recent past years was in January 2015 and May 2012 accounting for $11.7m and $13m, respectively.
When compared on half-yearly basis, the trade exchange between the two countries witnessed a sharp growth during January-June period. The combined value of two-way trade exchange in goods during the H1, 2018 jumped to QR9.61bn ($2.64bn), registering a double-digit growth of about 64 percent compared to QR5.86bn ($1.61bn) recorded in the corresponding period last year (H1, 2017).
With the significant surge in trade volume, the US trade surplus with Qatar for H1, 2018 has also witnessed a steep jump to reach QR3.71bn ($1.02bn) in H1, 2018, up by over 54 percent compared to QR1.71bn ($0.47bn) of the trade surplus recorded during the same period previous year.
The US exports of goods to Qatar during the first six month of this year stood at $1.83bn (QR6.66bn), showing a sharp increase of about 76 percent compared to $1.04bn (QR3.78bn) recorded for the corresponding period last year.
The value of the US imports of goods from Qatar during the first half of this year surged to $810.2m (QR2.95bn), up by 41 percent (year-on-year) from $574.5m (QR2.09bn) for the same period in 2017. The two-way trade exchange for the full year in 2017 stood at $4.32bn (QR15.73bn) with a trade surplus of $1.92bn (QR6.99bn) in favour of the US.
The transportation equipment, including aircraft, accounts for the majority of US exports to Qatar. US exports to Qatar constitute a major part of the local economy; while the US continue to heavily export advanced technologies such as commercial aircraft, vehicles, heavy equipment, satellite and communications equipment. The US also provides key management and technical services in engineering, education, and environment technologies to Qatar.
