Trade exchange between Egypt and the United Sates increased by 10.4 percent between January and April, compared to the same period in 2010. Ashraf Ezz Eddin, head of the Egyptian commercial office in Washington, said trade reached US$3,303,200,000 this year, compared to US$2,990,500,000 in 2010. Ezz Eddin on Monday told reporters Egyptian non-petroleum exports to the US between January and April reached US$577.1 million, compared to US$477.6 during the same period last year. The Qualifying Industrial Zones exports declined to US$317.1 million this year, compared to US$343.6 million in 2010, he added. Egyptian imports from the US, however, reached US$2,622,500,000 this year compared to US$2,061,300,000 during the same period in 2010. Ezz Eddin said Egypt ranked 33rd among the highest exporters to the US from January to April 2011. Egypt ranked the first among African countries, and the third among Arab countries, following Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Ezz Eddin attributed the spike in Egyptian imports to increases of US$149 million in wheat, US$32 million in soy beans, US$27 million in coal, and a US$22 million increase in scrap metal imports. Translated from the Arabic Edition
