The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has reported that, as of midyear, the exports of construction equipment made in the United States were down 24% when compared to the first half of 2015. There was a total of $5.65 billion shipped to foreign markets, according to the AEM. The only region where there was some promise was Europe, where the first half of the year saw a 2% increase in exports. South America and Africa came in as the worst regions form exports, with declines of 49% and 43% respectively.
“For the past 14 quarters, U.S. exports of construction equipment have declined year-over-year and at the midpoint in 2016, that trend remains unchanged,” said Benjamin Duyck, the AEM’s director of market intelligence. “With the global economic malaise, the slowdown in emerging markets and the negative interest rates in several economies’ bond markets, investment is flowing to the U.S. and U.S. stocks, driving up demand for the U.S. dollar, inadvertently affecting our competitiveness abroad.”
The exports to individual countries included our closest neighbors at the top—Canada with $2.4 billion, down 23% and Mexico with $561 million, down a more reasonable 7%. Other countries with large U.S. export totals include Australia ($273 million, down 29%), Belgium ($204 million, up 39%), Germany ($148 million, up 32%), Peru ($133 million, down 31%), China ($122 million, down 13%), Japan ($109 million, up 24%), Chile ($108 million, down 60%), and the United Kingdom ($100 million, down 7%).
