The dynamics of imports and exports between countries have been influenced by three key factors. The rising domestic demand, in the case of private consumption driven primarily from household disposable income, is the first. The United States' large fiscal stimulus, both relative to other countries and in absolute terms, has played a crucial role in maintaining U.S. consumption as well as imports. The strength of U.S. consumption has aided export growth to U.S. trading partner countries, while domestic demand is slower in U.S. trade partners.
The second is the composition pre-COVID of economic activity. Countries with higher manufacturing output have generally seen an increase in foreign consumption. However, the shock has caused countries to shift spending away from goods to services. While countries that rely heavily on services exports (think about tourism exports to countries like Spain, Portugal, and Greece) have been affected.
Supply constraints are the third factor, which has had an impact on goods' production around the globe. These were triggered by many factors including lower production and orders in the initial downturn, COVID-related shutting downs, and an unexpectedly high rebound in demand. The availability of semiconductors has caused a reduction in global production and exports of many goods, including autos. Globally, supply bottlenecks were addressed by firms that reduced inventories to meet strong demand. Inflationary pressures increased worldwide, with commodity prices and good prices increasing after a long period.
Exports have generally been weaker than imports across all advanced economies. However, China's exports have grown more quickly than those from emerging Asia and China. China's exports of manufactured goods have greatly benefited from changes in global demand. However, Chinese imports of services (especially for travel, both tourism and education spendings), plummeted after the closing of borders.Imports of consumer goods are boosted by the U.S. Consumption Recovery
The US import export data provides additional explanations for the differences in exports and imports. This is in addition to the difference in domestic demand growth rates between the U.S. and its trading partners. The U.S. is both a net importer and exporter of services. In particular, imports of consumer goods are more common than exports.
A strong recovery in consumer spending has boosted U.S. exports and increased the U.S. trade gap. The U.S.'s faster recovery in capital spending relative to its trading partners has resulted in greater growth in imports and exports of industrial supplies, as well as capital goods. US trade data highlights the importance of supply bottlenecks, constraints and is especially evident in data for trade-in cars and parts in the third quarter of 2021.
Recovery prospects
The fourth quarter and 2022 growth prospects looked good for advanced economies up until a few weeks back. However, a new wave in infections has hit Europe, particularly Germany, which has increased uncertainty about the short-term prospects. However, the growth prospects for advanced economies remain much better than those for many developing and emerging economies where vaccination rates have fallen and economic activity is still substantially lower than before the crisis.
The speed at which supply capacity in advanced economies will increase, in both the goods and services sectors, is an important question. This will allow recovery to continue without the need to tighten inflationary policies.
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