THE American share of global container volume declined almost half from 16.3 per cent of it in 1995 and falling to nine 14 years later in 2009, according to the US Department of Transportation (DoT).
But despite the decline, one container in 11 is either bound for or comes from United States, said the DoT report. In 1995, US container volume amounted to 22.3 million TEU and non-American traffic came to 137.2 million TEU. In 2009 America container volume came to 37.2 million TEU while the rest of the world accounted for 432 million TEU.
This is attributed to faster Asia-Europe and intra-Asian container growth by the DoT report entitled America's Container Ports: Linking Markets at Home and Abroad.
Ranked second to China in box traffic since 1998, the US still accounts for 11 per cent of total world trade in 2009, the report notes. America also has the world's biggest economy, accounting for 24 per cent of global GDP in 2009.
US total imports rank first, representing more than 13 per cent of global imports in 2009. But with nine per cent of total world exports, the US lags both China and Germany.
But standings are expected to change with rise of China into the No 2 spot in GDP ranking, now surpassing Japan and not directly rivalling the United States. At the end of 2010 Japan's GDP stood at US$5.5 trillion, behind China's GDP of $5.8 trillion.
But despite the decline, one container in 11 is either bound for or comes from United States, said the DoT report. In 1995, US container volume amounted to 22.3 million TEU and non-American traffic came to 137.2 million TEU. In 2009 America container volume came to 37.2 million TEU while the rest of the world accounted for 432 million TEU.
This is attributed to faster Asia-Europe and intra-Asian container growth by the DoT report entitled America's Container Ports: Linking Markets at Home and Abroad.
Ranked second to China in box traffic since 1998, the US still accounts for 11 per cent of total world trade in 2009, the report notes. America also has the world's biggest economy, accounting for 24 per cent of global GDP in 2009.
US total imports rank first, representing more than 13 per cent of global imports in 2009. But with nine per cent of total world exports, the US lags both China and Germany.
But standings are expected to change with rise of China into the No 2 spot in GDP ranking, now surpassing Japan and not directly rivalling the United States. At the end of 2010 Japan's GDP stood at US$5.5 trillion, behind China's GDP of $5.8 trillion.