WorldCity, Miami-France Annual Report: No. 13 trade partner- Global products for good living | Connecting Local Business Leaders To The Global Economy

Miami-France Annual Report: No. 13 trade partner- Global products for good living

July 27th, 2006

South Florida and France saw trade rise 24 percent in an exchange dominated by luxury goods.

Art for perfume.

That’s one part of South Florida’s trade exchange with France. The Miami Customs District exported nearly $49 million worth of artwork to France in 2005 while importing five time that amount in perfume from the European country.

The exchange was part of $1.4 billion in two-way trade between South Florida and France. That tally reflected a 24 percent increase when compared to trade results for 2004. Imports far exceeded exports, giving Miami an $899 deficit with France.

Fashion-conscious South Florida imported nearly $251 million in French fragrances last year, an increase of 15 percent. Miami is a big destination for luxury products from caviar and yachts to diamonds and alcohol but not all the perfume was for local use. South Florida-based cruise lines purchase perfume for their shipboard duty-free stores, as do the airports.

On the import roster, perfume was followed by regional jet parts. France is home to several aviation industry companies, most notably Airbus. Those jet parts leaped 55 percent in value to close the year at nearly $208 million.

But the biggest jump among South Florida imports came in the category of refined petroleum. It soared 1,251 percent to total nearly $87 million. In 2004, the total was just more than $6 million. Most of the jump was attributed to U.S. oil shortages that resulted when hurricanes ripped through Gulf Coast ports and oil refineries in late 2005, causing several damage.

France and 20 other European nations are members of the International Energy Agency, along with the United States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. In times of emergency, IEA member-nations send oil shipments to other countries to avert energy crises.

For the most part, the lineup of French imports read like a roster of luxury products: wine, cosmetics, antiques, sculptures, natural waters, jewelry, yachts and French creams and cheeses. That distinction may have been appropriate for a country that boasts the world’s largest luxury goods group, LVMH Met Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

South Florida took $69 million in alcoholic beverages, up 33 percent from a year earlier, as well as $68 million in wine a jump from the $60 million registered in 2004. Nearly 60 percent of the wine imports were red wines.

French cosmetics, meanwhile, remained nearly flat at $31 million, with skin care lotions and crmes accounting for half the total. The rest consisted of $7 million in eye makeup, $4 million in lipsticks and $3.5 million in powders, including rouge and baby powder.

Although imports far outweighed imports, the Miami Customs District saw its France-bound exports climb 29 percent to close 2005 at $250 million.

Artwork stood well ahead of the other commodities. The $49-worth of artwork brought into the Miami Customs District was nearly double the value of the No. 2 export to France: aircraft. It was also a big leap from the $14.5 million-worth of artwork shipped a year earlier.

Miami is gaining a reputation as an art destination, with serious art collectors and galleries.

When it came to aviation-related exports, South Florida saw gains in both aircraft exports and shipments of aircraft parts. Exports of aircraft out of Florida soared by more than 2,800 percent to nearly $25 million. That ran counter to nationwide trends. In 2005, overall U.S. exports of airplanes and jets to France plunged 30 percent to close the year at $1.2 billion.

South Florida’s shipments of aircraft parts, meanwhile, rose nearly 34 percent to nearly $23.5 million. Those parts included propellers, rotors and gliders for both civil and military aircraft.

Another form of transportation yachts also saw gains. The Miami Customs District sent $22.5 million-worth of yachts to France, up from $21 million in 2004.

Exports of medicines skyrocketed, climbing 87 percent to $23 million. Cardiovascular medication represented the bulk of the exports at $13 million. The U.S. also shipped $6.5 million in anti-neoplastic and immunosuppressive medication, more than $2 million in infection-fighting drugs and $1 million in veterinary products.