Iran's Negative Trade Balance with the U.S. Increases

The U.S. Census Bureau, in its latest monthly report published on Friday, May 3, has reported an increase in U.S. exports to Iran and a decrease in imports from the Islamic Republic. Details from the quarterly statistics for the current year indicate that Iran's exports to the U.S. have plummeted by 45% to $13.3 million. Meanwhile, Iran's imports from the U.S. have surged by over 57% to $32.8 million. In other words, Iran's negative trade balance with the U.S. has increased this year. The U.S. primarily exports medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural products to Iran. Iran's traditional exports to the U.S. include pistachios, carpets, and dried fruits. The widening trade gap between Iran and the U.S. comes at a time when the U.S. government is required to submit a report to Congress every 90 days to confirm or deny Iran's compliance with the nuclear agreement. The Trump administration is expected to make a decision regarding the JCPOA on May 11, but current reports, including those from U.S. media, suggest a high likelihood of the U.S. withdrawing from the nuclear deal. From 2000 to 2008, the value of Iranian exports to the U.S. consistently exceeded imports, but after that year, the trade balance has favored the U.S. The Iran Trade Development Organization also reported this week an increase in non-oil imports and exports. However, Iran includes many raw oil and gas materials such as gas condensates, propane, butane, other hydrocarbon gases, and some oil products like bitumen in its non-oil export list. These items have a significant share in non-oil export statistics. According to the non-oil export basket defined by Iran, this figure was $46.931 billion in the last solar year, reflecting a 6.6% increase compared to the previous year. Besides pistachios and iron ore, all of the top ten exported items are raw oil and semi-processed petrochemical products. Iran's exports to Europe decreased by 6% in the last solar year, reaching about $1.5 billion. Non-oil imports have also risen by 24% to $54.302 billion. Major imported products include auto parts and vehicles, agricultural products, and mobile phones. Iran's imports from Europe during this period increased by about 33%, reaching approximately $11 billion. China is Iran's largest trading partner, having exported over $13 billion to Iran and imported $9 billion from Iran last year. In other words, over one-fifth of Iran's total non-oil trade is conducted with China.