World Trade Slows Drastically

World trade is a large portion of our economy, a huge portion actually.

International trade accounts for nearly one third of our nations annual
economic revenue. (Trade, 2016) Clearly a sizeable portion. Global trade
plays a key role in our nations prosperity. Starting from the first origins of
America when paper money was sparingly used, trade and barter tactics are
what drove the economy and provided the people their goods and services.
Today, while paper money is utilized
and bartering is not nearly as
predominant, trading of goods is
actually more important than ever
as diversifying your resources and
spreading culture across the globe
benefits everyone involved.

Traded Commodities
Many of the products we have today
and use in our daily lives come from
foreign trade.
Products Imported into the United States
Car lines such as Toyota, Subaru, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, and
many more
Crude and refined oil or petroleum
Electronic products including Computers, radios, Televisions, office
equipment
Mechanical parts, engines, heavy machinery
Jewelry components of gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, and pearls
Shoes and clothing
All varieties of foods
Products Exported from the United States
Medical equipment including vaccines, centrifuges, syringes,
hormones, vitamins
X-ray machines, and lenses
Raw metals such as copper, Iron, Steel, and Aluminum
Harvested crops of corn, wheat, soybeans, and fruits
Other foods including beef, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, and eggs
Electrical Equipment and engines
If youd like to see a more extensive list of these products and as well as the
complete, interactive breakdown of their global percentages, check out the

Observatory of Economic Prosperitys webpage.

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/usa/
As you can now tell, world trade is critically important and provides the
general public with much of its goods and services. However, CNBC reports
that our annual trade rates are dropping faster than the temperature is
outside here in Fargo, North Dakota. Annual predictions are steadily showing
a smaller rate of growth between America and outside nations. This is a
startling fact and affects everyone in the United States as we are all
consumers of goods. Why though is this happening, and can our economy
stand to take these losses?

The Problem Explained

According to a CNBC article, the World Trade Organization, or simply the
WTO, predicted this week that the United States global trade will only rise
1.7 percent this year. That number is down from the prediction six months
ago when the projected figure stood at 2.8 percent. (Dramatic Slowing,
2016) These percentages may seem to be miniscule, but one percent of our
annual global trade imports actually total over twenty-seven billion dollars.
(Kafchinski, 2016) This figure is clearly not a minuscule number. The WTO has
also calculated that trade
expectations in 2017 has
dropped from an anticipated 3.6
percent to 1.8 percent now. This
rapid decline in annual trade
growth is potentially threatening
to our economy as we know
almost a third of it comes from
international trade. (Dramatic
Slowing, 2016) Its crucial to
continuing to grow this
international trade rate so us
consumers can continue to put
new cars in our garage, food on
our tables, and jewelry on our spouses hand.
The World Trade Organizations has cited major trading partner countries of
China and Brazil as having continuingly slowed economic growth lately. This
decline in foreign economies figures to be a major contributor to the decline
in the United Sates. (Dramatic Slowing 2016) Back here in the States our
current economic policies in regards to foreign trade clearly need to be
refined to accommodate not only our global resources economic states, but
also to accommodate our nations own needs and demands.
Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both brought this
issue into the public focus of late calling for better foreign trade bills and an

increased rate of trade growth at the latest presidential debate. Clinton

(2016) put it best when she said We are five percent of the globes
population. We need to trade with the other ninety-five percent. (Beckwith,
2016) If this topic is so relevant and important to our countries leaders, then
it should be important to all of us in the general public as well. Regardless
though of the election it is obvious that work needs to be done in the foreign
relations department. If we dont monitor these downward trends and find
solutions soon our economy could be in for a harsh future.

References
Beckwith, R. T. (2016, September 27). Read a Transcript of the First Presidential Debate.
Retrieved October 06, 2016, from http://time.com/4508768/presidential-debate-trumpclinton-transcript/
'Dramatic slowing' seen in global trade as rhetoric rises, watchdog warns. (2016, September 27).
Retrieved October 06, 2016, from http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/dramatic-slowingseen-in-global-trade-as-rhetoric-rises-wto-warns.html
Kafchinski, J. E. (2016). Foreign Trade: Data. Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/annual.html
Trade (% of GDP). (2016). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS
United States. (2016). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/usa/

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/annual.html
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/usa/
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/dramatic-slowing-seen-in-global-trade-asrhetoric-rises-wto-warns.html