|
At MIA, this import grew 3,184%, but didn’t fly in a plane
Miami International Airport’s trade with all its major European trading partners took a hit in 2020 – except for one.
That’s because, in the case of this one country, its cargo wasn’t actually flying in a plane.
You see, one of the biggest factors influencing not only MIA’s trade with Europe but the nation’s trade with Europe for so much of 2020 was the lack of passenger flights, due to Covid-19.
Sure, some airlines converted passenger planes to cargo planes. And sure, some all-cargo planes, or freighters as they are called, flew between Europe and the United States. But most cargo flies in the bellies of passenger planes, helping keep the cost of our ticket down in the process.
So Covid-19 also crimped trans-Atlantic trade.
At MIA, Swiss trade took the biggest gut punch, falling almost 40 percent from 2019. (Primary culprit: gold exports.) As recently as 2015, it ranked as MIA’s sixth most important trade partner. By 2019, it had fallen to No. 17 and it dropped to No. 22 in 2020.
The top-ranked European trade partner, the United Kingdom, saw its trade decline 8.08 percent, about in line with MIA’s overall trade, but actually advanced to rank No. 9, up one position. (MIA trade fell 9.17 percent in 2020.)
Germany, like Switzerland, fell five positions in its ranking, from No. 7 to No. 12, its trade off $1 billion, equal to 47.86 percent. Both exports and imports fell just under 48 percent. The loss was almost twice as much on the import side in dollar value, however, given the overall trade imbalance. (Primary culprit: aircraft engines and parts for Miami’s outsized aviation “MRO” industry – maintenance, repair, overhaul.)
Then there was Italy, which fell 10 positions, falling from the top 10 to No. 15. Trade fell $1.33 billion, which was just shy of 60 percent. Trade with Italy was largely off on the export side, down $975.06 million. (Primary culprit: category including vaccines, plasma and blood; more specifically immunological medicine in measured doses.)
The European country which MIA trade grew in 2020 did it on the import side. In fact, it ranked third among all MIA import trade partners, trailing only top-ranked Colombia (gold, flowers) and China (cell phones and related equipment as well as computers).
But France’s trade with MIA grew not because of what was in the planes. It was the planes.
That’s right, imports of used and rebuilt aircraft from France increased from $24.88 million in 2019 – essentially in line with recent years – to $817.29 million.
In case you can’t do the math in your head, that’s a 3,184.57 percent increase. The $792.41 million increase masks what would have otherwise been a loss in MIA trade with France, since overall trade increased $203.12 million, or 12.45 percent.
Sometimes, it turns out, you can judge a book by its cover.
|
