9 Facts: Why Is the United States Trading Less With Africa?
The United States is the only major economy that trades less with Africa now than six years ago.
September 9, 2014
1. The United States is the only major economy that trades less with Africa in 2014 than it did before the global financial crisis in 2007-08.
2. The drop in trade is in part due to a collapse in U.S. oil imports and increased shale production at home.
3. The shale revolution was supposed to liberate the United States from Middle Eastern oil.
4. Instead, it has brought oil independence from an unexpected location — Africa.
5. In 2014, U.S. oil imports from the African continent have plunged to a 40-year low.
6. The decline of imports from Africa has weakened the most important economic link between the United States and the continent.
7. Six years ago, the U.S.- Africa oil trade was worth $100 billion a year.
8. If the trend of early 2014 holds, it will be worth $15 billion this year.
9. This trend also signals that the United States is losing market share to other nations.
Sources: U.S. – Africa Trade Wanes After Shale Revolution by Javier Blas (Financial Times) and Source: GE warns that closing ExIm Bank would hit US-Africa Trade by Geoff Dyer (Financial Times)
