US largest tech product, services exports revolve around semiconductors, R&D, and software as service, says CompTIA
With the US-China trade war well underway, exports of US technology products and services hit $338 billion in 2018, up 2.5 percent from the previous year, according to a CompTIA analysis. US technology product and services exports to China lag imports by a wide margin.
That technology trade imbalance illustrates why the US-China trade battle endures. The US simply has less to lose than China. CompTIA said US technology products exports to China were up 3.9 percent in 2018 to $17.9 billion. Technology services exports to China from the US were $2.2 billion in 2017, the most recent year available.
In contrast, the US imported $187.7 billion in technology products and services from China in 2017.
CompTIA's report is a high level view as headlines are primarily focused on US moves against Huawei.
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The big takeaway is that the trade wars don't add up to US tech jobs in the long run, according to CompTIA.
CompTIA said there are 858,000 US jobs directly supported by technology exports overseas. Half of those jobs are in tech manufacturing.
Other items worth noting:
- Semiconductors are the largest US technology export followed by navigation and measuring equipment.
2. Tech services exports revolve around software as a service and research and development.
3. Technology product and services trading partners are typically different sets of countries.