Direct Versus Indirect Trade Romania – Romania’s Hidden Market for US Ag Exports, 27th April 2021

The U.S. Census Bureau’s bulk, intermediate, and consumer-oriented (BICO) export data tracks U.S. food and agricultural trade shipped directly to Romania. However, it does not measure the substantial levels of the U.S. agricultural trade to Romania routed through Western European ports of entry. According to BICO, U.S. suppliers shipped $83 million of U.S. food and agriculture to Romania in 2020, while according to Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (NIS), which measures trade by country of origin and therefore reflects both direct and indirect trade, Romania sourced upwards of $177 million of U.S. food and agriculture in 2020. FAS Bucharest encourages USDA cooperators and other U.S. food and agricultural exporters and stakeholders to review different data sources when considering resource allocation and market development strategies for Romania.