By Alice Mitchell, Export-USA.com Editor;
2008-12-20


Belgium is a country that relies in trading to boast its infrastructure. It is considered an ideal test market for U.S. exporters of products and services. In 2006, 17% of this country’s imports of goods and services came from U.S., making this trading partner rank 11th place.


The most significant commercial sectors from Belgium in which U.S. exporters could invest are: dental equipment, disposal and treatment, biotechnology, energy, airport security, chemicals and plastic materials, storage area networks, and heating and air conditioning equipment.


The costs of transportation are high but U.S. exporters have a real chance of penetrating the Belgian market if their products and services have competitive prices, are qualitative and innovative.
Biotechnology, for instance, includes the pharmaceutical, the agricultural and the chemical sectors.


The Belgian health care sector is 80% of the biotech activity. This means there are a lot of prospects of investment and opportunities for U.S. exporters, especially because of the continuous growing and innovation of the biotechnology market.


In 2007, the dental equipment total market size was $7.36million, with $0.35 million more than in 2005. Maintaining high standards in the healthcare sector is a must for Belgian doctors, dentists, scientists, and researchers. All dental equipment used in Belgium is imported, but U.S. have a small 10% market share.


Even with this statistics, U.S. still have good opportunities in this sector because due to it’s good reputation along the Belgian dentists. The second important sector in Belgium is the chemical industry one, which is constantly growing. The U.S. must emphasize on exporting in this country plastics and rubbers, which, in 2006, had a total market share of $13.8 billion.


The U.S. exports of plastic place it on the 4th place (11% of the Belgian plastic imports) and on the 5th place, when it comes to rubber exports. The U.S. also has good opportunities of exporting products from the interior textiles sub-sector. Even if this is a very competitive sector and it is dominated by China and Turkey, American exporters are recommended to infiltrate niche markets such as high-end fabrics and home textiles, where the prospects are better.


Between 2004 and 2007, the U.S. textile export have fluctuated, but the market share is expected to grow in the next few years due to the weak value of the U.S. dollar compared to the Euro. Last year, the U.S. has had success on the Belgian market exporting: textile mill products, yarn, fabric, floor coverings, and bedroom furnishings.


The water and waste water markets also offer good opportunities for U.S. exporters, especially in sectors like: disposal equipment, water treatment system components, ozone generators, aeration equipment, and domestic water saving technologies.


U.S. products and services already have a good reputation on the Belgian market, but considering the competition they have to face, U.S. exporters are advised to focus on a niche sector. All in all, Belgium offers good opportunities for U.S. exporters.
Disclaimer: This article is for informative purposes only and was comprised from various sources believed to be reliable. However, Export-USA does not make any warranty regarding the accuracy of the information in this article. Always check with a specialist and do your own research before engaging in international trade.