The trade exchange between Egypt and the United States has increased by 13 percent between January and October 2017 recording $ 4.534 million compared to $3.9 million in 2016. Non-petroleum exports to the U.S. hiked by 18.4 percent in the first 10 months of 2017, with a value of $1.234 billion, compared to $1.42 billion in the same period last year, Trade Minister Tarek Qabil said Thursday Qabil said that exports within the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement increased by one percent standing at $633 million, compared to $626 million last year On the other hand, exports within the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program rose by 15.4 percent to reach $71.5 million, up from $62 million a year earlier. Head of the Egyptian Commercial Service Ahmed Antar attributed the rise in exports to the efforts of Egypt's commercial service in Washington, that worked on helping Egypt's products enter the U.S market and on maximizing the benefit from the signed trade agreements between Egypt and the U.S. Among the exports that witnessed a rise were textiles and readymade garments with a value of $756.5 million, iron and steel worth $87.5 million and papers worth $28.4 million, Antar Noted .
