The Partial Closure Of The US Government Affects Foreign Trade

The impact of the partial closure of the US government began to affect foreign trade. The National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States said that the import of pesticides in the United States has been completely suspended. The import of pesticides must be approved by the EPA, but more than 90% of the employees of the agency have taken leave. Some US technology companies are unable to deliver overseas orders because they cannot obtain the export license from the US Department of Commerce. Imported steel is detained in the customs clearance warehouse waiting for relevant documents.

Marianne Rowden, president of the American Association of Importers and Exporters, said that the situation was very chaotic. She said that trade activities involved more than 40 government agencies, including the EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Commerce. She also said that 14 agencies had the right to temporarily detain and release goods before they were cleared by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Although most of the customs employees were on duty when the government closed, many other institutions have taken vacations and closed their websites.

According to the report, it is not clear how far the problem has affected and how many industries have been affected, but in the US economy with more than 15 trillion dollars, trade is an increasingly important engine. Last year, US exports increased by 4.4% to US $2.196 trillion, and imports increased by 2.7% to US $2.736 trillion. According to the US Department of Commerce, the export industry has supported nearly 10 million jobs in China.

Kevin Winston, a spokesman for Applied Materials (AMAT), one of the largest computer chip manufacturing equipment manufacturers, said that the company believes that the blocking of routine export approval procedures may affect the company's ability to deliver goods to certain markets. The EPA also suspended customs clearance for pesticide imports. Alisha Johnson, the spokesman of the agency, said in an email that without EPA evaluation and approval materials proving that pesticides have been registered normally, these products would not be able to obtain clearance permission to enter the United States. According to EPA, the annual pesticide expenditure of the United States is about 12 billion dollars, of which about 15% depends on imports.

Steel imports have also been affected. Lisa Goldenberg, president of Delaware Steel Co. of Pennsylvania, a steel dealer and trader in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, said that steel was stranded in customs clearance warehouses in Baltimore and Newark, New Jersey, waiting for entry permission. Goldenberg said that the imported steel is still waiting for relevant documents and is currently in a state of shelving.