US Containerized Trade with Asia

In 1,000 TEUs. Source: UNCTAD, Review of Maritime Transport.

US Containerized Trade with Asia, 1996-2008

American trade with several countries of the Pacific is chronically imbalanced, notably with China, Japan and South Korea. What is notable is the rapidity at which these imbalances have emerged in about a decade. From an imports / exports ratio close to 1 in 1996, this ratio surged to 3.2 in 2006 (3.2 times more loaded containers traded between Asia in the United States than between the United States and Asia). This trend has implications on the movements of containers as well as on transport costs. The Asian crisis exacerbated imbalances in transpacific containerized shipping, mostly due to the debasement of several Asian currencies. China also maintained through that period a fixed exchange rate with the US dollar.

Due to economies of scale in maritime shipping the costs of moving a container from East Asia to the United States have been reduced by 50% during the 1990s. However, due to trade imbalances Asian exporters pay on average 50% more in container shipping costs than their American counterparts. In the United States, there were at all times 300,000 to 400,000 empty containers waiting to find cargo around 2006. For New York, there were about 100,000 empty containers belonging to leasing companies and 50,000 empty containers belonging to shipping companies in various depots and terminals.

There are however signs that this trend will be corrected in the future. While the import / export ratio reached 3.2 in 2006 it corrected sharply from 2007 to reach 2.6 in 2008. It is expected to recede even further.