US Imported and Exported Computer Sales

China Sells US$23.2 Billion Worth of Computers to America

© Daniel Workman

Jul 18, 2008

In 2007, the United States imported US$30.3 billion worth of computers from the following group of six major trade partners: Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Computer sales from these countries to America last year were up a healthy 27% increase from 2006.

U.S. Imports of Computers by Country

During 2007, China supplied over two-thirds of computers exported to the U.S. from the six major trading nations below.

1. China … US$23.2 billion (76.7% of U.S. computer imports)
2. Mexico … $4.7 billion (15.6%)
3. Japan … $1.3 billion (4.2%)
4. Canada … $689.3 million (2.3%)
5. Germany … $215.7 million (0.7%)
6. United Kingdom … $171.4 million (0.6%).

Fastest-Growing Sources of Imported Computers

Canada and China enjoyed the highest percentage sales increases for computers sold to the U.S.

1. Canada … Sales up 48.4% in 2007 from the prior year
2. China … Sales up 33.8%
3. Mexico … Sales up 10.3%
4. Germany … Sales up 9.9%
5. Japan … Sales down -0.4%
6. United Kingdom … Sales down -36.8%.

The U.S. exported US$6.9 billion worth of computers to these six major trade partners during 2007. American exported computer sales to the countries below experienced an average 9.4% gain from 2006.

U.S. Exports of Computers by Country

Canada bought the most American computer exports in 2007, about $2.6 billion more than what Canadian computer manufacturers shipped to the U.S.

1. Canada … US$3.3 billion (47.9% of U.S. computer exports)
2. Mexico … $1.4 billion (20.7%)
3. Japan … $617.6 million (9.0%)
4. United Kingdom … $608.2 million (8.9%)
5. Germany… $473.1 million (6.9%)
6. China … $457 million (6.7%).

Fastest-Growing Destinations for Exported Computer Sales

In 2007, American computer exports to Germany the highest percentage sales increases from 2006.

1. Germany … Sales up 27.4% in 2007 from the prior year
2. Mexico … Sales up 20.7%
3. China … Sales up 13.1%
4. Canada … Sales up 5.1%
5. Japan … Sales up 3.9%
6. United Kingdom … Sales up 10%.

Imports of computer accessories into America from these same six trade partners were down 3.1% to $37.8 billion in 2007. Computer accessories include monitors, web cams, printers, scanners and other peripherals and parts.

U.S. Imports of Computer Accessories by Country

Last year, China exported even more computer accessories than computers to America. The following list also shows that Japan sells far more computer accessories than computers to the U.S.

1. China … US$28.1 billion (74.4% of U.S. computer accessories imports)
2. Japan … $5.5 billion (14.6%)
3. Mexico … $2.2 billion (5.9%)
4. Canada … $1.1 billion (3%)
5. Germany … $439.4 million (1.1%)
6. United Kingdom … $365.4 million (1%).

Fastest-Growing Sources of Imported Computer Accessories

Canada was also the leader in increasing percentage sales of computer accessories to the U.S. last year, although at a much slower rate than the gain for computer sales. Four of the 6 countries below experienced sales declines for their export sales to America.

1. Canada … Sales up 7.9% in 2007 from the prior year
2. Japan … Sales up 2.7%
3. Germany … Sales down -0.4%
4. China … Sales down -2.9%
5. Mexico … Sales down -17.1%
6. United Kingdom … Sales down -23.8%.

Exports of computer accessories from America to these same six trade partners were down an average 24% to $14.2 billion in 2007.

U.S. Exports of Computer Accessories by Country

Together, Mexico and Canada accounted for almost 60% of American computer accessories sales to the six countries in this study.

1. Mexico … US$4.3 billion (29.9% of U.S. computer exports)
2. Canada… $4.1 billion (28.6%)
3. China … $1.7 billion (11.6%)
4. Germany … $1.6 billion (10.9%)
5. Japan … $1.4 billion (10.1%)
6. United Kingdom … $1.3 billion (8.9%).

Fastest-Declining Destinations for Exported Computer Accessories Sales

Led by the U.K. and Mexico, all countries cut back on their purchases of U.S. computer accessories from 2006.

1. United Kingdom … Sales down -36.1% in 2007 from the prior year
2. Mexico … Sales down -31.9%
3. Canada … Sales down -22.1%
4. Japan … Sales down -18.4%
5. China … Sales down -9.2%
6. Germany … Sales down -8.5%.

Sources for this Article

This article presents independent calculations and insights based on data drawn from the CIA World Factbook and the U.S. Census Bureau – Foreign Trade Statistics.

Computer sales up but computer accessories down?

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