Import & Export

When countries don't have enough supplies to satisfy the demand of consumers, they import from other countries. Imports are goods produced by a country, which are then bought by another country. As time passes, a country's development would bring enough goods to its residents. When the goods produced outnumber the demand of consumers, countries decide to export them for money. In economics, exporting is the act of manufacturing goods in one country and then selling it to consumers in another country. Countries often trade these goods for other products or for money.

200 years ago, the United States of America wasn’t fully developed, yet there are still a large amount of exports, as of the 1800s, agricultural products dominated foreign trades due to the increase of farms and the rapid population growth, as the number of farms grew 2.6 million, and there were a 35.1% population growth. In 2022, the import price of the United States fell 0.2 percent in January and has not recorded a monthly advance since June 2022. Overall, U.S. import prices declined 4.9 percent from June 2022 to January 2023. Despite the recent declines, the price index for U.S. imports advanced 0.8 percent over the past year. In comparison, the exports, mainly focusing on industrial supplies, capital goods, and food, feeds, and beverages, decreased by 12.2%.

Today, the largest importer of goods is the United States, followed by China and Germany. The U.S mainly imported machinery, vehicles and automobiles, minerals as well as medical equipment and supplies. The U.S. had a trade deficit increase of $948.1 billion in 2022. A trade deficit is where a country’s imports exceed its exports. The largest exporter in the world is the People's Republic of China. Mainly exporting Telephones ($21.4 Billion), Computers ($14.2Billion), Integrated Circuits ($13.7Billion), Refined Petroleum ($6.64Billion), and Electric Batteries ($6.42Billion), China became the largest exporter of goods aside from the European Union. China had a trade surplus of 78 billion U.S. dollars. A trade surplus is when a country’s export is greater than the import.

The economic principle is called The Law of Supply and Demand. It predicts that if the supply of goods produced exceeds demand, products will become less expensive. If demand is greater than supply, prices will rise. In a free market, the equilibrium price is the price at which the supply equals the demand. This is a true fact, as proven by reality. In the market, when something is rare, it will be very expensive. However, things that are common often end up being very cheap. Let’s take the example of a pen. If there are, say, a thousand trillion pens in the world, the price will be cheaper as more people can have it. In contrast, the price will be extremely expensive if there is only one pen in the world, as people would want it for higher prices.

In conclusion, import means things that are made outside of a country but bought by that country, while export means things made in one country, which are then sent to other countries. When the number of imports are higher than the number of exports, a trade deficit occurs, meaning a negative trade When the number of exports exceeds the imports, a trade surplus occurs, symbolizing a positive trade. Lastly, the Law of Supply and Demand applies to every single market in the world. The law states that things that are rare turn out to be expensive, as more people want them. Whereas things that are common, are mostly affordable by more people.