International Dream

By Michael R Czinkota

As the largest importer in the world, the United States obtains about 13 percent of global goods and services from other countries ― diverse as China, Canada and Mexico. The United States tends to buy more than it sells.

Americans have access to worldwide products and none has to go overseas to get it. But does this mean they have access to everything? And if not, what new inventions and innovations is the United States missing out on?

While everyone talks about exports, we focus on the so often maligned imports.

Exports make imports possible, which enhances selection, competition, and competitiveness. With already a shining city on the hill, how can things get even better?

Our team of hands-on experts, exposed to products from around the globe.

They are a group of seniors the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. We asked them to give us a closer look into what the US should import more of.

Students explore new motivations for US imports to include goods and services from a wide array of industries ranging from fine foods to health and technology.

Technology has effectively become the center of our lives.

Students believe that the US should dedicate its import efforts on innovative products that will enhance tech performance and connectivity. The United States currently can only support 4G services to telephones.

Korea, on the other hand, has been using 5G recently, which has provided them the opportunity to grow faster and be more flexible than the US There now is a lucrative market for portable chargers. As they are cheaper to import than to produce, the US is more likely better off importing battery pack rentals from China

The need for tech innovation is not limited to mobile phones, but includes automobiles and health.

With rising auto tariffs, the United States will have decreasing access to advanced automotive engineering technologies. Specifically, foreign markets sell sleek pickup trucks, which are not available in the United States and penetrate Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa Access to such advanced forms of auto engineering will benefit US consumers.

Innovation will also support health sector advances. There was demand for robotic goods.

Japan was credited with very advanced medical robotics. The Kibo Experiment Module allowed fixing problems on the International Space Station without having to send a human into space.

Similarly, robots are used in Japan right now in order to have a more...