Trading Places: Inc.'s 2008 Export Guide

NIGERIA

Oil-rich Nigeria is on a spending spree. The country, the U.S.'s second-biggest trading partner in Africa after South Africa, bought $2.8 billion of U.S. goods in 2007, a 25 percent increase from 2006. Nigeria's energy wealth, coupled with President Umaru Yar'Adua's antigraft stance, has convinced many foreign companies that the upside is worth the risk of doing business in this long-troubled country. At the same time, a decline in nonoil industries has rendered Nigeria more dependent on imports of staples such as medicine and construction equipment.

NORTH KOREA

Which country posted the sharpest increase in imports from the U.S. in 2007? North Korea, up 55,414 percent. Of course, 2006 was the year the U.S. cracked down on the sale of luxury items such as plasma TVs and Jet Skis to North Korea -- gifts that dictator Kim Jong-Il reportedly liked to bestow on his cronies. With the tighter trade ban in place, North Korea's purchase of U.S. products fell to a measly $3,000, but last year it rebounded to $1.7 million, all of that going for grain.

OMAN

Exports from the U.S. to this sultanate at the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula topped $1 billion in 2007. Look for that sum to grow as a free trade agreement signed in 2006 by President Bush and Oman's leader, Qaboos bin Said, goes into effect. The country imports a lot of drilling and oil field equipment, industrial machinery, and vehicles. And given the conflict across the region, the flow of military equipment, parts, and ammunition from the U.S. to Oman grew 284 percent in 2007.

PERU

U.S. exports to Peru were up 41 percent last year, to $4.1 billion. Peru's large mining, fishing, and agricultural industries bought a lot of equipment, but look for Peru's economy to diversify as a brand-new free trade agreement with the U.S. is implemented. "Even though the Peruvian market is small by American standards, for a small American company, this could be a very interesting market," says Aldo Defillipi of the American Chamber of Commerce of Peru.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Long one of the world's basket-case economies, this South Pacific nation is enjoying a rare period of stability thanks to higher prices for its gold and copper. Sales of aircraft parts, drilling equipment, and cosmetics drove exports from the U.S. to PNG to $65.9 million in 2007.

POLAND

Since joining the European Union, in 2004, Poland has become a gateway to the fast-growing economies of the Eastern bloc and the Baltic states. American exports to Poland totaled $3.1 billion in 2007, a 59.3 percent increase from 2006. CellAntenna, a Coral Springs, Florida, company that makes equipment that amplifies cell phone signals, began exporting to Poland only two years ago and already does $750,000 in annual sales. CEO Howard Melamed says it makes sense to set up shop there because of its central location and its educated work force.

RUSSIA

Russia imported $7.4 billion worth of goods from the U.S. last year, an increase of 56.1 percent from 2006. The country's economy, fueled in large part by its oil and gas industry, is booming, as is demand for U.S.-made generators, building products, and telecommunications equipment. And Moscow, which now boasts more billionaires than any other city on the planet, has become one of the world's top markets for luxury goods. Exports of jewelry, antiques, and artwork from the U.S. to Russia increased fivefold last year, to $98 million.

Our Top Trading Partners

Source: Office of Trade and Industry Information, U.S. Department of Commerce

Top 10 Export Markets by Increase in Dollars in 2007

Source: Office of Trade and Industry Information, U.S. Department of Commerce