Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 May 2017
During the past decade, the significance of international trade for the United States’ economy has changed dramatically. In 1970, merchandise exports were $43 billion and accounted for five percent of the Gross National Product (GNP); merchandise imports amounted to $40 billion (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis). By 1977, such exports had increased to almost $120 billion and imports to $150 billion, in both cases a rate of increase almost double that for GNP over the same period.