admincompared with the parallel period last year.
According to a statement on the United States embassy’s website, Zimbabwe and the United States traded goods worth US$94 million during the period under review.
“Through August of this year, the US and Zimbabwe traded goods worth US$94 million, a 46 percent increase over the first eight months of 2010,” reads part of the statement.
US Census Bureau (Foreign Trade) data for the period show that the US exported goods to Zimbabwe worth US$45,4 million, while importing goods amounting to US$48,6 million from the country.
This is comparable to overall US exports amounting to US$969 billion, and total imports worth US$1,4 trillion during the same period, indicating the extensive growth potential of bilateral economic trade between Zimbabwe and the US.
Zimbabwe-US trade has been on an upturn over the last couple of years. In 2008, trade with the US accounted for 6,5 percent of Zimbabwe’s external trade, more than twice the 2003 share.
For instance, in 2009 and 2010, annual US goods exported to Zimbabwe rose 30 percent over the 2000 to 2008 averages.
Although bilateral trade between the two declined sharply in 2009, a development which analysts attribute to the global economic downturn during that period, it recovered by 18 percent last year.
The United States of late appears to be softening its stance on Zimbabwe. US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray attended the US-Africa Business Summit in Washington, DC, last month where he urged American investors to do business with Zimbabwe.
Earlier this week, the US said it had been “necessary” to reconsider its position on Zimbabwe’s diamonds and allowing the country full export status.
Online Reporter