In April 2022, America's trade deficit – the value of what's imported compared to the value of what's exported – narrowed by the largest percentage seen in nine years, with exports significantly increasing.
The reason for the gap shrinking is largely related to delays and disruptions in global supply chains. However, a shrinking trade deficit had been one of the goals for former US president Donald Trump when he initiated steel tariffs in 2018, launching a trade war with China.
Since then, the US has started establishing new trade pacts with countries around the world, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click or scroll through our gallery to uncover who is now among America's top 10 trading partners, according to recent data from the US Census Bureau.
When the UK left the EU's single market and customs union on January 1 2021, it had already started negotiations with the US to create a free trade agreement.
Despite negotiations starting in May 2020, this early start didn't translate to success and a deal isn't expected anytime soon.
Regardless, the UK still ranks among America's top 10 trading partners, a relationship that was worth $43 billion (£34bn) between April 2021 and April 2022.
When the negotiations began in May 2020, the then-president Trump, who supported Brexit, hoped that the US would be "top of the queue" for a trade agreement.
Likewise, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson envisioned such an agreement with the US as one of the top prizes for the UK when leaving the EU.
However, there is friction among the two countries when it comes to certain rules and regulations, particularly in regards to food standards and prescription drug prices.
Without a trade deal in place, the UK has started to pursue agreements with individual states instead.
The first, signed with Indiana in late May, is among 20 that are under discussion. The British government called Indiana "an entrepreneurial powerhouse" in areas like renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
Another deal is expected with Texas in October, while discussions with Oklahoma, North Carolina, and South Carolina are also taking place.
India also tops the list of countries that do big business with America, securing trade deals worth $43.1 billion over the last 12 months.
The relationship is increasingly valuable, as the US overtook China as India's biggest trading partner in May.
Many expect that this will continue as both countries are part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a trade initiative launched by US president Joe Biden in May. China isn't a member.
The US-India relationship hasn't always been so rosy though.
In 2018, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on imported steel and slapped 10% on imported aluminium. This harmed India's metal exports and the government retaliated by adding hefty tariffs on goods imported from the US, including nuts, apples, and chemicals.
US officials hope president Biden's IPEF initiative, which comprises 14 countries and accounts for around 40% of global GDP, will provide an alternative to China as the economic leader in the region.
India, meanwhile, has its own trade goals. By 2030, the government wants to be exporting at least $1 trillion worth of goods to the US. Over the last year, America's imports from India totaled $27.5 billion.
Despite the outsized role Taiwan plays in the production of semiconductors and other vital chip technology, it's not included in America's new Indo-Pacific trade initiative.
Other IPEF members feared that including the island country would anger China. Instead, the US and Taiwan have since said they will begin negotiating their own free trade agreement this summer, and announced the launch of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade in June.
Over the last year, the two countries have traded $43.4 billion worth of goods.
It's easy to see why the US wants to stay close with this particular trade partner: after all, Taiwan accounts for the vast majority of the world's advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
While America remains a leader in semiconductor design and development, scooping up half of all global revenue, it remains reliant on Taiwanese manufacturers.
Supply chain issues have shown the precariousness of the situation, with covid outbreaks reducing output from Taiwan's factories and causing US automakers to bring production to a screeching halt.
China is also dependent on Taiwan for semiconductors and is anxious about access to manfuacturers, something that officials in the US are keeping an eye on from Washington.
The White House had been urging the world's leading chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), to open a foundry in the US. TSMC announced in 2020 it would build a $12 billion factory in Arizona.
Unfortunately labor shortages and covid outbreaks have significantly delayed construction, and the plant isn't expected to open before 2023.
Companies have been relocating to Vietnam in the hopes of reducing manufacturing costs and avoiding the challenges of the US-China trade war.
Vietnamese economists point out that the tariffs that Trump levied against China didn't bring production back to the US, but sent it to Vietnam instead.
With this shift, the US has made significant increases in its trading with the Southeast Asia country, clocking up a total of $44.3 billion in the last 12 months alone.
Textile and clothing manufacturers are among those moving to Vietnam from China, and their products make up a big chunk of the country's exports to America.
In 2020, Vietnam sold $9.9 billion worth of furniture and bedding, $7.1 billion in knit apparel, and $6.5 billion in footwear to the US.
It's no coincidence that cotton was one of the top export categories among the goods sent to Vietnam that year, accounting for $1.2 billion of the country's $9.9 billion imports from the US.
While there was slight chaos last year when factories were forced to close due to covid outbreaks, leaving many US retailers without new products to sell, Vietnam's ascent to the top 10 is likely to be maintained.
Gap produces one-third of its apparel in the country, while it's the source for half of Nike's shoes.
Now that more of the population has been vaccinated, supply chain issues should be less of a concern.
The US and South Korea celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their free trade agreement this spring.
It's actually America's second-largest trade pact, and has allowed trade to expand by around 70% over the last decade.
Over the last 12 months alone, the two countries traded $59.1 billion worth of goods.
The automotive sector has been a huge part of this trade agreement, with both countries highly competitive when it comes to the manufacturing of vehicles and parts.
Goods from this sector account for roughly one-third of America's imports from South Korea, while the value of them has grown by more than 75% since 2012.
However, many in the US see potential for automobile exports to South Korea to expand even further.
Right now, South Korea is the fifth-largest importer of American-made automobiles. For many years, buyers preferred German or Japanese cars when it came to foreign brands.
However, recent boycotts and tariffs have resulted in US brands overtaking Japanese-made models for second place, making up 15% of imported car sales last year.
The EU's member states combined are the US's largest trading partner, with Germany the economic powerhouse at the heart of it.
Germany has retained its position as America's fifth-largest trade partner, with trade between the two nations totaling $67.6 billion over the last year.
Germany is a major trader and the world's third largest exporter after China and the US. According to data shared by the US Department of State, one-in-four German jobs is dependent on exports.
However, supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine have resulted in roadblocks that could impact Germany's global output.
A steep dip in April marked the third consecutive month that the country's factories have seen orders from abroad decline, with government officials pointing to soaring energy costs, shipping container shortages, and covid lockdowns in China as the reasons for reduced demand.
To make matters worse, workers at the Port of Hamburg, which is Germany's largest seaport, have been threatening to strike, which would result in slower shipping.
With Germany and other European countries looking to wean their gas supplies away from Russia, the US will increase its energy exports.
And there are other goods that Germany relies on America to provide, with exports worth $23.5 billion sent over the last 12 months. Cars, aircraft, and associated parts alone made up more than 15% of this in 2020, coming in at a value of $9.6 billion.
Five years after former president Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, trade between the US and Japan remains strong – despite a number of challenges.
Over the last year, goods traded between the two countries totaled $75.7 billion.
Imports from Japan are overwhelmingly related to vehicles, including cars, parts, and large construction equpiment. In 2021, Toyota sold more than 2.3 million vehicles in the USA, with little more than half manufactured in America.
Meanwhile the top exports from the US to Japan include petroleum gas, medical instruments, and gas turbines.
President Biden recently visited Japan to discuss trade with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who later joined the president to celebrate the launch of the IPEF trade initiative.
Japan has been a key player in the new multi-nation pact, encouraging other countries in the region to join and support the deal. After Biden's trip, the White House described relations between the two countries as a partnership that is "stronger and deeper" than ever before.
China has long been the US's largest trade partner – well, up until 2019, at least.
Trump created numerous tariffs in an attempt to reduce the the trade deficit between the two countries. Now ranking as America's third-biggest business partner, China still traded a massive $226.9 billion worth of goods with the US over the last year.
The trade relationship between the two countries is perhaps best described as "it's complicated".
Electronics, machinery, and appliances make up a significant portion of America's imports from China thanks to cheaper manufacturing costs. The decades-long growth from making these goods has lifted millions of Chinese people out of poverty and increased consumer spending power in the US to boot.
However, this has come at a cost for the Americans who lost their manufacturing jobs. Meanwhile the tariffs introduced in 2018 on steel and other material imports is thought to have caused more harm than good for US businesses over the last few years.
President Biden's administration has imposed its own restrictions on China, banning the imports from the Xinjiang region unless companies can prove their manufacture didn't involve slavery.
The area is home to the Muslim Uyghur minority, whom the US and various other nations are concerned have been victims of forced labor, among other atrocities.
Xinjiang is a large cotton producer, with around 20% of the clothes imported into the US containing cotton from the region. Biden's ban on imports from the region will have a major impact on apparel trade when it comes into play in June.
Mexico has greatly benefited from the US-China trade war, with goods worth $248.4 billion crossing the border over the last 12 months.
Many expect this figure to increase further due to the continued tension with China, while supply chain challenges are forcing manufacturers to rethink where they want to locate their production facilities.
With its proximity to the US, Mexico offers a strong alternative to avoid logistical issues in the post-pandemic era.
Mexico has become an important source of vehicle and car part manufacturing for the US market.
In 2020, Mexico exported $41.6 billion worth of cars, with more than two-thirds of them revving their way to the US.
America also imported $23 billion in car parts alone from Mexico, with manufacturers including Toyota, Volkswagen, and GM all investing in car production facilities along the border.
In 2020, the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
While much of NAFTA has been retained, the USMCA deal has stronger labor and environmental provisions, along with important changes for the automobile industry.
NAFTA had required that 62.5% of the materials used to make a car come from North America. The new rules increase this to 75%, with 70% of its steel and aluminum required to be in North America.
For foreigner manufacturers like BMW or KIA, manufacturing in Mexico provides access to these free trade agreements, while opening a subsidiary in Mexico can potentially reduce the tariffs imposed on US vehicle imports.
It's little surprise that our northern neighbor ranks number one in trade.
Canada and the US share the world’s longest international border, with more than 100 ports-of-entry. The two nations enjoyed a total trade of $255.1 billion over the last year.
In 2020, the top US imports from Canada concerned minerals and base metals, with Canada its source for nealy half of these commodities.
Used in electric vehicles and solar panels, as well as for computers, the demand for minerals like nickel, lithium, and cobalt will only grow over the next few years.
Canada and the US are among several mostly western nations that have announced a new pact, the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), to secure supply chains for these critical minerals. According to Reuters, the US has worked with Canada to boost its supply chains in the hopes of countering China's dominance in the sector.
Another top US import from Canada is transportation equipment, including motor vehicles, car parts, and piston engines.
Likewise, these are among the most commonly traded goods that the US sends north across the border. This is because the trade relationship between the two countries is so close that their supply chains are actually intertwined.
The Consul General of Canada in Minnesota estimates automakers "trade parts back and forth five or six times" over the border before a car even leaves the assembly line.
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