According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), exports of U.S.-made construction equipment were down 24% overall at mid-year 2016 compared to the first half of 2015 with a total $5.65 billion shipped to global markets.

AEM noted that Europe was the sole region with a gain, up 2%, and South America and Africa led the double-digit declines, citing U.S. Department of Commerce data it uses in global market reports for members.

Exports by world region, January through June 2016 U.S. construction equipment exports by major world regions compared to January through June 2015:

• Canada dropped 23%, for a total $2.4 billion
• Europe gained 2%, for a total $898 million
• Central America fell 7%, for a total $696 million
• Asia decreased 28%, for a total $664 million
• South America declined 49%, for a total $504 million
• Australia/Oceania fell 30% to $294 million
• Africa declined 43% to $220 million

“For the past 14 quarters, U.S. exports of construction equipment have declined year over year and at the midpoint in 2016, that trend remains unchanged,” said AEM’s Benjamin Duyck, director of market intelligence. “With the global economic malaise, the slowdown in emerging markets and the negative interest rates in several economies’ bond markets, investment is flowing to the U.S. and U.S. stocks, driving up demand for the U.S. dollar, inadvertently affecting our competitiveness abroad.