US embassy cable - 04AMMAN6555

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/LEA 
STATE PASS TO USTR - E. SAUMS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, ECON, JO 
SUBJECT:  JORDAN'S 2004 EXPORTS TO REACH USD 2.5 
BILLION, EXPORTS TO THE U.S. LEAD GROWTH 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  Deputy Prime Minister and Minister 
of Industry and Trade Mohammad Halaiqa predicted 
that Jordan's exports would exceed USD 2.5 Billion 
during 2004.  Trends in domestic exports support 
this forecast;  Jordan's total exports for the 
first five months of 2004 increased by 43.5% over 
the same period last year. Growth of exports to 
the U.S. market constituted 34.1% of Jordan's 
total growth for the same period. END SUMMARY. 
 
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Forecast 
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2.  At the opening of the "World Trade Week 
Jordan" conference on August 1, DPM Halaiqa said 
that Jordan's exports were expected to exceed USD 
2.5 Billion during 2004. Jordan's Department of 
Statistics numbers show that domestic exports were 
USD 2.3 billion and USD 2.2 billion in 2003 and 
2002, respectively.  Jordan's total exports 
(domestic exports plus re-exports) were over USD 3 
billion in 2003 and almost USD 2.8 billion in 
2002. 
 
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Growth in Jordan's total domestic exports 
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3.  Jordan's Department of Statistics data shows 
that domestic exports continued to surge ahead in 
the first five months of 2004, totaling about USD 
1.2 Billion, a growth of USD 368 million, or 
43.5%, over the same period the previous year. 
 
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Growth of Jordan's domestic exports to the U.S. 
market 
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4.  In the first five months of 2004, exports to 
the U.S. market constituted 27% of Jordan's total 
domestic exports, making the U.S. Jordan's number 
one market.  The growth in domestic exports to the 
U.S. constitutes about 34.1% of Jordan's growth in 
total domestic exports for the same period. 
 
5.  Department of Statistics data also showed that 
Jordan's total exports to the United States 
reached about USD 328 million in the first five 
months of 2004 growing by about USD 125 million, 
or 62% over 2003.  Jordan's domestic exports to 
the U.S. were just USD 13.1 million in 1999. 
 
6.  Apparel continued to dominate Jordan's 
domestic exports to the U.S. market.   For the 
first five months of 2004, non-knitted apparel (HS 
Code 62) constituted over 57% of exports to the 
US, knitted apparel (HS Code 61) constituted 
almost 32%, gold jewelry (HS Code 71) constituted 
over 9%. 
 
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Growth of Imports 
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7.  Jordan's total imports in the first five 
months of 2004 reached almost USD 3 billion, a 
growth of USD 762 billion, or 34.6%, over the same 
period of last year. 
 
8.  For the first five months, imports from the 
U.S. constituted 6.6 % of Jordan's total imports. 
The growth of imports from the U.S. constituted 
about 4% of Jordan's growth of total imports for 
the same period. 
 
9.  Jordan's imports from the United States 
reached about USD 195 million in the first five 
months of 2004 growing by about USD 30.7 million, 
or 18.7%, over 2003.  Imports from the U.S. had 
declined 4% in the first five months of 2003 
(because of hostilities in Iraq) compared to the 
same period of 2002. 
 
10.  Jordan's main imports from the U.S. during 
the first five months of 2004 were: 
 
HS Code   Percentage   Description 
  10           20.1%          Cereals 
  85           20.0%          Electrical Machinery 
and Equipment 
  84           12.8%          Machinery and 
Mechanical Appliances 
  88             8.0%          Aircrafts and Parts 
Thereof 
  15             6.0%         Animal and Vegetable 
Fats and Oils 
 
11.  JABA, the American Chamber of Commerce in 
Jordan, stated to the local press on August 1 that 
Jordan's exports to the U.S. market shot up 72% in 
the first five months of 2004 over the same period 
last year.  JABA's statement was based on U.S. 
Census Bureau statistics.  The difference in 
statistics between U.S. and Jordanian official 
sources can be attributed to the shipping lead- 
time. 
 
12.  COMMENT:  Growth in QIZ exports continues to 
be a driving force;  growth in knitted apparel 
produced at QIZ factories alone contributed 77% of 
growth of exports to the U.S. market. This can be 
attributed to the expansion and higher rate of 
utilization of current production capacity.  The 
growth may result in part from stocking up by U.S. 
buyers ahead of the end of the multi-fiber 
agreement on December 31. 
 
HALE