The United States largest economy in the world, are rich in agricultural resources, energy and mining. Applying the principle of free enterprise, Americans eagerly exploit them, sometimes to excess. Yet they are moving toward a service economy dominated by service industries. Even though they face competition from East Asia, foreign trade are considerable: the United States is the leading exporter and the world's largest importer.AgricultureAmerican agriculture, the first in the world by the value of its production and exports, is not without advantages: the vast agricultural area (418.2 million hectares in 1999), wide range of subtropical and temperate, both recent colonization, rational and systematic.American agriculture is speculative and export-oriented. Agricultural land covering 43% of the country, are distributed as follows: 2 million ha of permanent crops (land cultivated with crops that should not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee), 239 million ha of permanent grassland, 176 million ha of arable land (land under temporary crops), 22.4 million hectares irrigated. However, the agricultural population accounts for only 2% of the workforce. Mechanization is very advanced: 4.8 million tractors and combine harvesters 662,000 supplement the small number of rural areas. As for the concentration of land, it has accelerated: the United States had 1,925,000 farms in 1992, against 5.6 million in 1950. Their average size increased from 193 to 205 ha from 1987 to 1992 and large farms are growing.The profit motive has also led farmers to monoculture. But monoculture tends to decrease gradually because of its disadvantages: soil erosion, over-production and thereby price collapse. To remedy this, the farmers have diversified their crops, although the regional specializations remain.Agricultural production The range of products is vast and the country has the best rank for many of them, the only dependencies relate to tropical products like coffee, cocoa, bananas, etc.. In 2000, the EU produced 253.2 million tonnes of maize (first world), 60.5 million tonnes of wheat (third largest after China and India) and 15.6 million tonnes citrus.Production of barley (6.9 million tonnes in 2000), rice (8.6 million tonnes in 2000), sugar beet (29.4 million tonnes in 2000), soybean (71.9 milliontonnes in 1999) and wine are also among the largest in the world. The huge grain harvest of livestock feeds cattle and sheep, meat production (37.6 million tonnes in 2000) and milk (76.2 million tonnes in 2000) put the U.S. at the forefront world.ForestryWith 265 million hectares, the United States have a vast forest estate.New England (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont) and the Great Lakes region, cleared areas with too much ardor by the pioneers, the government encouraged reforestation. The two main forest areas are now located in the western mountains (the Rockies, Cascades, Sierra Nevada), the Appalachian Piedmont and the Atlantic coastal plain. Production, exceeded only by that of the Russian Federation, is not enough to the very strong domestic consumption: the United States imports large quantities of lumber and newsprint Canada's neighbor.FishingFishing provides 5.4 million tonnes of fish and shellfish. It has almost disappeared in New England, after a period of three centuries, the fortunes of Boston, Plymouth and New Bedford. She moved to the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska (Juneau) and California (San Pedro), where Vietnamese refugees have given him a boost. Tuna and anchovies in California, Louisiana shrimp, salmon from Alaska and the Northwest, fish dishes and New England clams are the most profitable catches.Mineral and energy resourcesThe country is a major consumer of energy (1.996 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 1993), and yet huge production (383.2 million tonnes of crude oil), is not enough. Consumption given the preponderance of oil (40.7%), followed by coal (24.6%), natural gas (24.1%), nuclear (9.3%) and hydroelectricity (1.3 %).IndustryThe U.S. industry was born after the Civil War (1861-1865), protected by high tariffs. She then has resources intact, a growing market and cheap labor of blacks freed from slavery. European immigrants also provide large contingents. The United States became the world's largest producer of steel in 1897.In 1929, the U.S. produces 45% coal, 50% steel, 70% oil, 80% cars and 55% of the machines in the world.Despite its relative decline, the U.S. industry remains the world leader, thanks to chemistry (Du Pont de Nemours, Union Carbide, Dow Chemical), oil (Exxon, Mobil, Gulf, Texaco), automotive ( Ford, General Motors), aerospace (Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed), space (Rockwell, General Dynamics), communications (ITT), computers (IBM, Digital, Honeywell, Hewlett Packard, Apple, Xerox) and photography (Kodak). These "giants" are also working many subcontractors.The space between the Appalachians and Great Lakes is the main home American industrialist, with especially heavy industries and basic industries: coal mining, steel, automobile, agricultural machinery, rubber, glass, electrical equipment, mineral chemistry, mill. Detroit, which remains the world capital of the automobile, has thousands of suppliers in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. But the Japanese competitors have established many factories in the region, including in Tennessee and Kentucky (they held 30% of the U.S. auto market in 1992). With more than 6 million cars [1996] and 5.7 million vehicles a year, U.S. production is exceeded by that of Japan (7.8 million cars) [1996]. Steel Great Lakes (Chicago-Gary-Cleveland) retains first place to those of the U.S. Atlantic coast (Sparrows Point) and California.Around Boston, New England, long known for its fine industries (watches, jewelry, electrical goods), undertook an effort to convert to high-tech sectors (instrumentation and control, computers, robots, hospital equipment , pharmaceuticals).The chemical industry is represented mainly along the south coast.Houston and Galveston have the highest concentration of world petrochemical industry; Corpus Christi and Texas City refineries have non-ferrous metals imported from Latin America. Note that offshore production in the Gulf added that of Baja California and especially in Alaska near Prudhoe Bay. The inner part of the South - remains of the Cotton Belt - host most of the cotton industry (Atlanta), tobacco (Richmond) and furniture (Memphis). Making remains faithful to the major cities (New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles), but it has to compete with Asian and Mexican productions.The Middle West has specialized in farm equipment and food industries: flour mills, canneries. The most important are located in Chicago, Buffalo, Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis and Kansas City. The West is the land of raw materials: their basements contain rare metals and non-ferrous and especially coal, the main mines are concentrated in Wyoming, Utah and Montana.Seattle to Los Angeles, the Pacific coast known since the 1970s a remarkable development based on the aerospace, electronics and media. Three groups, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, dominate the construction space and aeronautics. They work for the civilian market but also for the military market, an area where orders placed in 1999 are three times those achieved in Europe. Most electronic and computer companies are located in Silicon Valley. As for the film companies and television, they are located in Los Angeles (Hollywood), employing nearly 900,000 people. Los Angeles is also an important center of musical creation. In the north, Oregon, Washington and Montana produce nearly half the country for aluminum and the pulp.
Means of communication United States a perfect command vast space with the overabundance of transportation and communication available to them. The railways, which were the preferred instrument for the conquest of the West in the nineteenth century, lived their peak. They are today,? Hui confined to the transport of bulky and quick dessert (Amtrack) on some busy routes (for example, Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington). Nearly 278? 000 km of track crisscross the territory of the United States (first world). Inland navigation is of great service in the transportation of grain and bulky on the Mississippi and Great Lakes (the two major areas each generate an annual traffic of 200 million tonnes) channels also connect to the tributaries of the latter first.The huge fleet of the United States (150 million cars, 48 million vehicles in 1993) reflects the high standard of living and high population mobility, it has an infrastructure of 6? 2 million kilometers of roads, 80? 000 highways.The aircraft, means of transport and almost banal daily, offers a wide variety of services (and intra-regional flights, air taxis, private aircraft, cargo aircraft for cargo). The market has been deregulated since 1978, is dominated by three airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Airlines. In the freight sector, the Americans were the first in the world. This success is due in particular to the development of hub airports to facilitate the interconnections (the Hub and Spokes). In the U.S., the main hubs are New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas.Geostationary satellites, which carry out surveillance of the territory, allow the flow of computer data, telephone conversations and television programs.
First foreign trade importer and exporter, the United States overwhelmingly dominate international trade by the weight of their multinationals abroad and the widespread use of the dollar as reserve currency.The U.S. trade balance recorded a deficit of more than $ 115 billion, the coverage of imports by exports not exceeding 80% (in Japan, it amounts to 133%). Exports, although varied and abundant, relate to 82% of industrial products (aircraft, machine tools, electrical and electronic equipment, medicines, chemicals, etc.).. Legacy of the recent past to a new country, agricultural exports represent 9% of revenues outside of the Union, coal and minerals 9%. If they distribute their products worldwide, U.S. companies have three main clients: the European Union (23% of sales), Canada (21%) and Japan (11%). At the same time, Americans have been unable to resist their "bulimia" imports: 80? 3% for industrial products (often better than those of domestic industry), 11% for oil, 5? 7% for food (mainly tropical fruits), 3% for raw materials (especially minerals).The major suppliers are Japan, Canada and the European Union (18? 5% each), followed by oil-producing countries (12%).With a surplus of $ 14 billion (1994), revenues generated by international services cover only a small part of the U.S. trade deficit property. The national fleet (20 million gross tons), airlines, banks in New York, broadcasting, news agencies, corporate accounting or public works, engineering, tourism contributes to strength of the balance of services.Unilateral transfers are deficient because of "global responsibilities" of the United States (maintenance of the navy and troops stationed overseas aid to third world countries) and remittances from migrant workers to familiesremained in their home country.The U.S. trade deficits feed huge dollar holdings for some exporters and foreign states, in general, they remain in the United States in the form of direct investments (buildings, land, shares in the capital of companies) and especially of portfolio investment (Treasury bills). Capital flows have, therefore, in the long term, a largely positive balance (and the U.S. see themselves frequently accused of draining the savings of the world). For its part, the public is concerned about property purchases by foreigners (most recently those of Japanese in California and New York) and the growing volume of stocks and bonds held by investors from overseas.
Financial Services The intensity of internal and external trade presupposes the existence of a strong and diversified financial sector. It offers more than 3 million jobs, with annual growth (4%) is one of the many witnesses to the growing service sector of the U.S. economy. Having dethroned London, New York became the first financial center in the world during the 1960s, before being threatened by the rise of Tokyo.The banking sector is different from that of the Old Continent by its crumbling: 11? 700 establishments in 1992. A 1838 law limiting the responsibility of banks to a single State of the Union led to the proliferation of small community bank. Few have yet achieved a dominant position in the world (Chase Manhattan, Citibank, First Boston, First Chicago, etc.)..The central bank (Federal Reserve Board) dates only from 1913. U.S. banks have raised technological innovations (credit cards, ATMs) that were included in the world. The release of interest rates (1986) has increased competition and accelerated a process of concentration required of companies and it is a secret that some have bad loans in Latin America and among farmers (debt U.S. farmers have quadrupled from 1970 to 1985).Insurance companies, too many, thrive because of their function in social protection, which is not vested in the state or parastatals, as is the case in most rich countries .The United States has some of the futures markets the most active in the world: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Boston. It deals with commodities (wheat, corn oil, soybean cake) and, increasingly, treasury bills, stocks, bonds and options and foreign exchange. Creditor of the world, especially during the Cold War, the United States, however, are by far the most indebted country (debt is 64?% Of GDP).
