Ghana cuts down trade balance with US to $484m with high exports in 2013

The trade balance between Ghana and the United States fell to $484.7 million in the first eight months of 2013, official US data has shown.

This is compared to $670.8 million trade balance both countries recorded during the same period (January-August) in 2012, according to the US Department of Commerce.

The reduction was due low American exports and a rise in Ghanaian exports during the period.

The US exported goods worth $747.5 million during the 2013 period to Ghana compared to what it did $901.7 million in 2012.

The US Commerce Department indicated that exports from Ghana into the American market rose from $230.9 million in the 2012 eight-month period to $262.7 million in 2013. Ghana’s main export commodities to the US are oil and cocoa.

Ghana is a beneficiary of the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Ghana and the United States traded $1.5 billion worth of goods in 2012, according to figures by the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the US Department of Commerce.

They recorded a trade balance of nearly $1 billion ($987,663,000) in 2012.

By Ekow Quandzie