Egypt’s exports to U.S. rise 18% in first 10 months of 2017

CAIRO – 28 December 2017: Non-petroleum exports to the U.S. increased by 18.4 percent in the first 10 months of 2017, at a value of $1.234 billion, compared to $1.42 billion in the same period last year, Trade Minister Tarek Kabil said Thursday.

Kabil said that exports within the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement increased by one percent to stand at $633 million, compared to $626 million last year. Meanwhile, exports within the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program rose by 15.4 percent to reach $71.5 million, up from $62 million a year earlier.

The QIZ agreement allows Egypt customs free exports to the U.S. on condition that these products contain 10.5 percent Israeli inputs, while the GSP program offers duty-free access to the U.S. market to a wide array of Egyptian producers.

Imports from the U.S. during the first 10 months of 2017 meanwhile stood at $3.3 billion, up from $2.9 billion last year, with bilateral trade between both countries standing at $4.5 billion from January to October 2017. This is an increase from the $3.9 billion achieved last year.

Head of the Egyptian Commercial Service Ahmed Antar attributed the rise in exports to the efforts of Egypt’s commercial service in Washington, which worked on helping Egypt’s products enter the U.S market and on maximizing the benefit from the signed trade agreements between Egypt and the U.S.

Among the exports that saw a rise were textiles and readymade garments at a value of $756.5 million, iron and steel at $87.5 million and papers at $28.4 million, Antar said.