U.S. still a big exporter, believe it or not

(The Houston Chronicle) – A question arising often is: Does the United States export anything these days besides movies and food?

Because of China’s rapid export rise the last dozen years, an impression has spread that American com- panies export increasingly less.

Want a souvenir from China? Just go to Walmart. But trade is never a zero sum game. Just because Walmart sells numerous China-made products doesn’t mean U.S. companies sell little abroad.

Nearly $1.5 trillion

The United States exported $1.48 trillion in merchandise in 2011, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration, a 16 percent increase from 2010. The amount is a record.

Add services, and the U.S. exported a total of $2.1 trillion in 2011.

The top U.S. export is transportation equipment, mainly autos. Transportation equipment exports last year totaled nearly $217.18 billion, up from $190.92 billion in 2010.

The United States is a top-three exporting nation, according to recent U.S. Commerce Department estimates. China exports nearly $1.9 trillion. Germany by itself is just ahead of the United States at $1.54 trillion.

Texas plays key role

The state most responsible for the U.S. merchandise trade increase was Texas. Texas exports grew by $43 billion in 2011 over 2010, or 21 percent of the U.S. increase. In all, Texas exported $249.9 billion last year.

Mexico, of course, was the top destination for Texas exports, receiving $86.6 billion. Canada is second, receiving $22 billion.

Energy products

China at No. 3 is interesting because of the growth. Last year, China took in $10.9 billion of Texas exports – nothing to sneeze at.

In 2005, China received less than half of that, $4.94 billion.

Texas’ top export globally is petroleum/coal products, which totaled $41.3 billion in 2011. Following were chemicals, computers/electronic products, machinery and transportation equipment.

Texas’ top merchandise exports to Mexico are somewhat different from the rest of the world. The big exports last year were computer/electronic products, which totaled $19.64 billion. Petroleum/coal products and transportation equipment followed.

Houston also a factor

In a landslide, the Houston area is the top exporting Texas metropolitan area. Houston exported $65.8 billion in 2009, or 52 percent of the state’s exports.

The answer to the original question is, yes, the United States exports plenty. A lot of it happens in Texas.

Hendricks is a columnist and reporter for the San Antonio Express-News. dhendricks@express-news.net