According to the print economics chart released by Joe Webb, the US economics and consulting expert, on October 5, 2007, as of October 2007, the United States’ export value and import amount of the printing trade have respectively achieved 8%. With a 9% increase, their actual growth rates are 5% and 6% respectively.
Although the United States still enjoys a certain trade surplus in commercial printing—exports totaling US$4.1 billion and imports totaling US$4.25 billion—the imported and exported products are not in the same value chain. For example, on the import side, there are more printed books and magazines, and on the export side, there are more magazine prints.
At the same time, China became the largest source of imports for the United States. From January to August 2007, China exported a total of more than 1.4 billion U.S. dollars worth of printed materials to the United States, while the U.S. exported less print to China. Canada is the second largest importer of the United States. The total amount of prints they export to the United States reached nearly US$900 million, but Canada’s currency also showed a devaluation trend.