Despite the economic recession that Greece has been experiencing in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–08, the bilateral trade between the USA and Greece has not been adversely affected. On the contrary, during the period 2012-2015 the USA goods imports from Greece were higher than the respective exports and it is estimated that this trend will also continue in 2016.
In particular, in 2015, Greece’s goods exports to USA reached $1,36 billion recording positive growth (+29%) in comparison to 2014 and to 2013 (+42%), while from January until November 2016 they reached $1,10 billion, making Greece the 69th most important goods trade partner of the US. The increase of Greece’s goods exports to the USA is a sign that Greek companies are increasingly turning to foreign markets to sell their products, given that domestic goods consumption has been diminishing since 2010 (the average monthly household expenses for the purchase of goods and services recorded a decline of 25% during the period 2010-2014 in Greece).

Articles of iron and steel (16,37%) represented the largest share of US goods imports from Greece in value terms in 2015, followed by preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants (14,08%) and tools, implements, cutlery, spoons and forks of base metal (9,76%). Other products that the US imported from Greece during the same year, were salt, sulphur, earths and stone, plastering materials, lime and cement (7,39%), aluminum (5,92%) as well as electrical machinery, equipment, parts and accessories of such articles.

At US state level, the most important importers of goods from Greece were Texas, New York, North Carolina, New Jersey, Illinois and California. In particular, 85,77% of Texas’ goods imports and 87,54% of North Carolina’s goods imports from Greece (in value terms) concerned  primary metal manufacturing products, while food manufacturing products were the most important product category that the states of New York, New Jersey and California imported from Greece with shares of 57,19%, 54,59% and 76,93% respectively.

Sources: www.census.gov, www.trade.gov, tse.export.gov/tse/tsehome.aspx, tse.export.gov/stateimports, DK Business Analysis Unit