Looking strictly at exports and imports,the United States is running a deficit totaling $698.72 million this year, with — and here’s the imbalance — about 96 cents of every dollar in sparkling wine trade a U.S. import and just 4 cents an export. The deficit will be the largest ever in 2014 and the “trade balance” — the percentage of total trade that is a U.S. export — will be among the lowest.
Diminutive as they are, the largest four markets for U.S. exports are not particularly surprising, though No. 5 is a curiosity, to be sure. Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands — a European distribution hub — and Japan account for 49.66 percent of the total in 2014. At No. 5 is Togo, a small and impoverished West African nation with a per capita GDP of $1,100, according to U.S. government statistics. Colombia and Panama are also in the top 10.
