It is the East Asian economies which contribute most significantly to the region's importance as a U.S. trading partner. U.S. trade with East Asia is almost four times greater than with South Asia and the Near East combined. The following graphs clearly show that with slow and often stagnating growth in South Asia and the Near East, it is the more rapid growth of East Asian exports and imports that has dictated the course of U.S. trade with ANE over the past ten years. Growth of U.S. total trade with ANE countries slowed dramatically in 1998. As several ANE countries began their recovery from the financial crisis of the preceding year, a reduction in U.S. exports to the region and an increase in imports is exactly what one would expect to see.
China continues it's rise as the region's largest U.S. trading partner.
In 1998 it accounted for 25 percent of total U.S. trade with ANE countries. As the largest market for U.S. imports from ANE, China has averaged 24 percent annual growth in merchandise sold to the U.S. since 1988. Taiwan is the second largest supplier of U.S. imports and the largest market for U.S. exports in the region. The top six ANE trading partners shown here all East Asian economies. The Philippines is emerging as a growth market for U.S. trade, surpassing levels achieved by China, Singapore, and Hong Kong only a decade ago.