The U.S.’s total 2011 export import trade climbs to a record $3.69 trillion with New York leading the way

U.S. trade was worth a record $3.69 trillion in 2011 and for the first time in a decade, Los Angeles was not the nation’s top-ranked Customs district, according to WorldCity analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released today.

The New York City Customs district, traditionally No. 2, finished ahead of Los Angeles for the first time since 2001, when that U.S. recession slowed Asian imports into Southern California.

In addition to topping the 2008 total trade record, the nation topped the 2008 record for imports, at $2.21 trillion, and the 2008 high mark for exports, at $1.48 trillion. The nation’s trade deficit increased to $726.38 billion, the highest total in three years, but lower than those in the four-year stretch between 2005 and 2008.

The United States registered a trade surplus with 142 nations and a deficit with 95. The trade deficit with just the top 10 nations accounted for 90 percent of the total. The nation’s largest deficit is with China, at a record $295.46 billion. From a Customs district perspective, Los Angeles had the largest deficit, at $145.08 billion, followed by Chicago, which passed $100 billion for the first time, to $103.28 billion.

Canada remained the nation’s No. 1-ranked trade partner, with $597.27 billion worth of exports and imports with the United States. It accounted for 16.2 percent of all U.S. trade, a sizeable percentage but the lowest percent in at least two decades. In 2001, the percentage was 20.3 percent, the last time it topped one-fifth of all U.S. trade.

China and Mexico are the nation’s second- and third-ranked trade partners, respectively, and combined with Canada account for 42 percent of all U.S. trade. New York and Los Angeles accounted for slightly more than 21 percent of the nation’s 2011 trade. Houston, Detroit and New Orleans ranked third through fifth, respectively, with Houston jumping past Detroit thanks to the rising cost of oil and gasoline.

The nation’s leading import was oil, but the $336.80 billion total fell short of the $353.54 billion imported in 2008. It was, however, a sharp increase over the 2010 total of $260.12 billion.

The other leading imports include motor vehicles, refined petroleum, computers, cell phones and related equipment, pharmaceuticals and motor vehicle parts.

Gasoline and other refined petroleum products replaced aircraft as the nation’s leading export in 2011, increasing in value from $53.95 billion in 2010 to $91.01 billion. The 2011 total is, in fact, only slightly less than the total of 2009 and 2010 combined.

The third-ranked export in value was motor vehicles followed by motor vehicle parts, computer circuitry, cell phones and related equipment, computers, gold and pharmaceuticals.