The United States has become an increasingly close trading partner for Finland
According to the new country-specific survey of Finnish Customs, the US was Finland’s third biggest export country again between January and September 2023. In imports, the US improved its position by two since last year and was the fifth biggest import country between January and September 2023. For Finland, the goods trade with the US is in significant surplus and the US has become a more important trading partner country to Finland.
According to the foreign trade statistics compiled by Finnish Customs, Finland’s exports of goods to the US amounted to 4.8 billion euros and thus decreased by 1.6 per cent between January and September in comparison to the corresponding period last year. Last year however, exports to the US grew by 67.1 per cent compared to the previous year, and thus the exports are still on a significant level this year, despite the slight decrease.
The value of imports from the US for January–September 2023 was 3.1 billion euros, which is 15.6 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year. In 2022, the value of imports from the US increased by 78.4 per cent, and the foreign trade statistics for this year show that imports are still on the rise.
- The US has become an increasingly important trading partner for Finland. To Finland, the goods trade with the US is in significant surplus, and thus the US is Finland’s most important trading partner country, says Olli-Pekka Penttilä, Director of Statistics.
Industrial machinery and oil products constitute the largest part of the exports, importance of crude oil has increased in imports
In comparison with last year, the value of exports of refined oil products, metals and paper and paperboard to the US decreased steeply between January and September. Exports of chemical industry products (especially pharmaceuticals), means of transport and machinery and equipment increased between January and September. The statistics show an increase in the value of imports of crude oil, gases, means of transport and electrical machinery and equipment.
- Finland mostly exports industrial machinery and equipment as well as oil products to the US. The importance of imports from the US has grown as the imports of crude oil and gases from the US has replaced the ending trade with Russia, says Penttilä.
The import of fuels from Finland to the US amounted to 1.1 billion dollars in 2022, with an increase of 251 per cent compared to the year 2017. An interesting fact is that the large new cruise ships imported from Finland in the last years cannot be found in the US import statistics. These large cruise ships were exported from Finland to the US in December 2020, November 2022 and November 2023, but there is no import country listed for these ships in the UN Comtrade statistics database either.
The US established steel and aluminum duties in 2018, citing national security concerns. The duties entered into force on 23 March 2018 for all countries except Mexico and Canada, and the EU was granted a one month extension. At the end of 2021, the EU and the US settled their dispute regarding the steel and aluminum duties introduced in 2018, and it was agreed that the duties would be removed for a certain period. Originally, the deadline for this was set for the end of 2023, but now is has been extended until 31 March, 2025.
- The US steel duties decreased Finnish exports, but the exports were also influenced by the global decrease in foreign trade caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the steel duties were removed and the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, Finnish exports to the US normalised very quickly. Steel duties, like other trade barriers, cause decreases in the foreign trade, Penttilä concludes.
Finnish Customs country-specific statistics survey (in Finnish)