XN000022-1987-02-12 — Page 11

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1987

10

+FIRST, THERE ARE NO BARRIERS TO U.S. EXPORTS, SO THAT THEIR VOLUME REFLECTS EITHER THEIR COMPETITIVENESS IN AN OPEN MARKET OR THE EFFORT WHICH HAS BEEN MADE TO SELL THEM.

+SECONDLY, THE FIGURES DO NOT INCLUDE THE VERY SUBSTANTIAL BUT UNQUANTIFIABLE EARNINGS FROM THE SALE OF U.S. SERVICES IN HONG KONG.

+AND THIRDLY, THE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF U.S. PRODUCTS BY THE FIVE-AND-A-HALF MILLION PEOPLE OF HONG KONG IS, AT AROUND $545, FAR HIGHER THAN IN THE MARKET OF ANY MAJOR U.S. TRADING PARTNER IN EUROPE OR ASIA.

+IF TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN, FOR EXAMPLE, TOOK AS MUCH PER CAPITA, THE U.S. TRADE DEFICIT WOULD DISAPPEAR OVERNIGHT,+ MR DORWARD POINTED OUT.

EXTERNAL TRADE STATISTICS FOR DECEMBER AND 1986 RELEASED

*****

THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY RELEASED TRADE VALUE STATISTICS FOR DECEMBER AND THE WHOLE YEAR OF 1986. COMPARED WITH DECEMBER 1985, TOTAL MERCHANDISE TRADE IN DECEMBER 1986, VALUED AT $55 459 MILLION, GREW BY 26 PER CENT.

DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCREASED BY 25 PER CENT TO $15 365 MILLION IN DECEMBER 1986 WHILE RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 33 PER CENT TO $12 626 MILLION, THUS BRINGING TOTAL EXPORTS IN DECEMBER 1986 TO $27 991 MILLION, 28 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN DECEMBER 1985. IMPORTS INCREASED BY 24 PER CENT TO $27 468 MILLION IN DECEMBER 1986.

DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO ALL MAJOR MARKETS INCREASED IN VALUE TERMS BETWEEN DECEMBER 1985 AND DECEMBER 1986. THE GROWTH IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS WAS PARTICULARLY STRONG TO JAPAN (86 PER CENT), CHINA (54 PER CENT), FRANCE (37 PER CENT), THE NETHERLANDS (34 PER CENT) AND SINGAPORE (25 PER CENT).

IMPORTS FROM MOST MAJOR SUPPLIERS GENERALLY INCREASED BETWEEN DECEMBER 1985 AND DECEMBER 1986 ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA (78 PER CENT), TAIWAN (40 PER CENT), SWITZERLAND (32 PER CENT), CHINA (31 PER CENT) AND JAPAN (25 PER CENT).

ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES WERE RECORDED IN IMPORTS FROM SINGAPORE (-19 PER CENT) AND THE UNITED KINGDOM (-1 PER CENT).

/RE-EXPORTS TO