2021’s Dirty Dozen: Amid Import Deluge, These Are Down $1 Billion-Plus

2021’s Dirty Dozen: Amid Import Deluge, These Are Down $1 Billion-Plus

The value of passenger vehicle imports continued to fall in September, hammered by work stoppages ... [+] and computer chip shortages, both tied to Covid-19. On the year, passenger vehicle imports are down more than $24 billion when compared to 2019. You have heard about all those imports stuck off the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Savannah. And the record trade deficit. But there are 12 imports this year that are down more than $1 billion from their pre-pandemic 2019 totals. We'll call them the Dirty Dozen, a nod to a great movie from a generation ago. If you follow export-import trade, there will not be too many surprises in the data the Census Bureau released Thursday, which covers the first nine months of the year. That data showed that total trade was a record $3. 34 trillion through September, putting it on pace to hit about $4. 4 trillion by the end of the year. That $3. 34 trillion is a 7. 63% gain from the first nine months of 2019, a 22. 64% gain over last year at this time. Exports totaled $1. 27 trillion, also a record pace, an increase of 23. 24% over last