The Qatar-US bilateral trade volume continued to register double-digit growth in April this year. The total value of trade exchange in goods between the two countries touched QR1.39bn (382.8m) countries in April, registering a sharp jump of over 50 percent (year-on-year) compared to QR926.03m ($254.3m) for the corresponding month last year (April 2018).
The combined value of two-way trade exchange in goods between Qatar and the US for the first four months of this year (January-April 2019) has surpassed over QR8.32bn ($2.28bn), witnessing a remarkable growth of over 58 percent compared to QR5.24bn ($1.44bn) for the same period in the previous year (January-April 2018), online data released by the United States Census Bureau show.
The total value of US trade surplus against Qatar for the first four months of this year has reached QR1.94bn ($533.9m). The US exports to Qatar for the period reached QR5.13bn ($1.41bn) and its imports from Qatar stood at QR3.19bn ($876.6m).
On monthly basis, the value of the US exports of goods to Qatar in April 2019 stood at $214.3m, while its imports from Qatar stood at $168.5m, earning a trade surplus of $45.8m.
When compared on a quarterly basis, we can see that efforts to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries have yielded positive results. Both the trade exchange and trade balance (from the exchange of goods) between Qatar and the US registered a sharp jump in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2019).
The US exports of goods to Qatar during the first three months (January-March) of this year reached $1.196bn, while its imports from Qatar increased to $708.1m during the same period.
The sharp rise in trade volume with Qatar has resulted in significant growth in the US trade surplus (difference between the export and import of goods) with Qatar in Q1 2019. The US trade surplus soared to 488.1m (QR1.77bn) in the first quarter of this year, registering a significant growth of over 46 percent compared to the trade surplus of $332.9m (QR1.21bn) same quarter last year.
According to reports, the US trade surplus with Qatar in 2018 surged to QR10.37bn ($2.85bn), up nearly 49 percent compared to QR6.99bn ($1.92bn) registered in the previous year.
However, the US trade surplus against Qatar, despite registering extraordinary growth in 2018 remained far low compared to QR13.32bn ($3.76bn) recorded in 2016, which was the all-time high. In 2016 the Qatar-US bilateral trade peaked to QR22.14bn ($6.08bn).
The Peninsula
10/06/2019
