Trade between Ghana and the US has been growing steadily in the last decade.
Trade between the two countries in goods was close to $1.5 billion in 2014, representing 220 per cent higher than in 2004, according to a GNA report citing Mr Arun M. Kumar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets of the United States of America.
Mr Kumar, the report said, cited statistics from the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Accra which indicates that about 40 per cent of AmCham members had in the last 10 years (2004-2014) invested close to $13 billion in Ghana, paid $800 million in taxes, and dedicated close to $500 million on various social programmes, showing a correlation between US investment and the growth of US-Ghana trade in the same period.
Available information indicates that the US and Ghana signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 1999. The fifth US-Ghana TIFA Council Meeting was held in January 2008. In the same year, Ghana and the US opened exploratory discussions on the possibility of negotiating a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
Ghana ranks as the US’s 91st largest goods trading partner. Trade between the two amounted to $1.4 billion during 2013. The US exported goods worth $1.1 billion and imported goods worth $366 million from Ghana. The US goods trade surplus for Ghana in that year was $701 million.
In 2013, Ghana was the United States’ 75th largest goods export market. US goods exports to Ghana in 2013 amounted to $1.1 billion, down 19.3 per cent about $255 million from 2012.
The top export categories (2-digit HS) or Harmonized System in 2013 were: Vehicles ($266 million), Machinery ($200 million), Mineral Fuel (oil) ($110 million), Meat (poultry) ($83 million), and Cereals (rice) ($79 million).
US agricultural exports to Ghana in 2013 were $190 million. Leading categories include: poultry meat ($83 million) and rice ($69 million).
Ghana was the US’s 100th largest supplier of imported goods in 2013. In that year, the US imported from Ghana goods amounting to $366 million, a 25.7 per cent increase ($75 million) from 2012.
The five largest import categories from Ghana in 2013 were: Cocoa ($178 million), Mineral Fuel (oil) ($116 million), Wood ($18 million), Rubber ($9 million), and Vegetables (yams) ($9 million).
The US agricultural imports from Ghana in 2013 were $207 million. Leading categories include: cocoa beans ($149 million), and cocoa paste and cocoa butter ($29 million).
Source: Ghana Business News
