Iran’s trade with the United States is insignificant, as most traded commodities are either shipped through third countries or in the form of suitcase trade.
Iran’s exports to the United States over the past few years have been near zero, says Ahmad-Reza Farshchian, a Tehran Chamber of Commerce official, adding that any export in small volumes has been in the form of suitcase trade with Iranian supermarkets in the United States as destination.
"American businessmen and companies have not bought Iranian goods for years and there is no import from Iran. American companies are reluctant to do business with Iran in fear of the consequences of violating Washington’s sanctions,” he added.
According to Hassan Shokouhi, the head of the Food Supplements Importers Union, American drugs (medicine) find their way to the Iranian market in return via third-party countries, mainly the UAE.
Latest data released by the US Census Bureau show Iran’s trade with the US stood at $30 million during the first nine months of 2021 to register a 9.37% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2020.
Bilateral exchanges in September 2021 hit $4.3 million, up 48.28% compared with $2.9 million in September 2020.
Iran exported $0.7 million worth of goods to the US during the nine months under review, indicating an 80% year-on-year fall.
Imports from the US stood at $29.3 million during the same period, down 1.01% from $29.6 million during last year’s corresponding period.
Iran’s exports to the US stood at $0.1 million in September, down 50% from last year’s corresponding period, while imports totaled $4.2 million, indicating a 55.56% YOY growth.
Iran’s commercial exchanges with the US hit $40.2 million in 2020, posting a 48.53% decline compared with 2019. It exported $3.9 million worth of goods to the US during last year, indicating a 178.57% year-on-year rise.
Imports from the US stood at $36.3 million during the period, down 52.67% YOY.
Bilateral trade stood at $74.5 million in 2019 to register an 84.97% decline compared to the year before. Iran exported only $1.4 million worth of goods to the US, down 98% YOY while imports from the US totaled $73.1 million in 2019, down 82.83% YOY.
In 2018, the value of trade between the two countries had increased by 155% compared to 2017, but it has been falling drastically ever since.
