(Archived document, may contain errors)
October 27, 19 94
TRADE FIGURES HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANCE OF EXPORTS TO ASIA FOR U.S., JOBS
By John T. Dori Research Assistant Nearly 2.8 million Americans in 1993-or one out of every fifty American workers-were em- ployed as a result of U.S. exports to the countries of Asia and the Pacific Rim. I In fact, more than one-sixth of all U.S. jobs created between 1989 and 1993 can be attributed to trade with this region. California alone benefitted to the tune of over 692,000 jobs as a result of its exports to Asia in 1993. Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Texas, and Washington also did very well. Many states have seized on the tremendous opportunities offered by the dynamic and increasingly prosperous markets of Asia and the Pacific Rim. Texas, for instance, has set up a "sister state" rela- tionship with the Chinese province of Shandong, resulting in the establishment of a Chinese silk pro- duction facility near Houston. This arrangement benefits Texas by facilitating trade with Shandong province and by attracting new industries-and thus new jobs-to the Lone Star State. California, not surprisingly, maintains an aggressive export promotion program targeted toward Asia and the Pacific Rim. The state's Export Development Office already has branches in Japan and Hong Kong and is setting up a new branch in the Republic of China on Taiwan. These offices spon- sor "buyer delegations," which are visits to California by Asian trade and business officials in which California products are showcased. They also coordinate trips to the region by California manufacturers looking to increase sales abroad. Through such measures California companies are working to get a foothold in the potentially lucrative Vietnarn market. These are just a few examples of individual state efforts to increase their share of a growing Asian export market, worth almost $140 billion in 1993. The following chart demonstrates the growth in that market by state since 1989, in addition to the number of jobs in each state supported by exports to Asia. The Clinton Administration should be aware of these figures as the November 15 meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Indonesia draws near. The President should use the meeting as an opportunity to push for liberalized trade among APEC members. Freer trade means more American exports to Asia and, as the following figures indicate, more exports translate into more American jobs and a higher U.S. standard of living.
Note an Source and Methodology. This Heritage Foundation study was based upon data collected by the Massachusetts Institute fbr Social and Economic Research (MISER) and available through the Department of Commerce's National Trade Data Base (NTDB). MISER reported the dollar amount of merchandise exports betiveen the ffty U.S. states and each of their- trading partners Heritage then tabulated the dollar amount of merchandise trade exported by each state to the countries of East and South Asia, the Padfic Rim, and the Pacific Islands, calculating in the process the number of jobs in om'"gNn Wy 'ou' I ote a n Jte fbr A6 D Base (1'@r tradingP 'JL of I- each state supported by this trade; with Asia. The calculation of the number of jobs in each state supported by trade with .9C Asia was performed on the basis of the Commerce Departments estimate that each one billion dollars in exports results in J the creation of approximately 20DW jobs.
