Import demand gives rise to a supply of dollars and a demand for foreign currencies.
That implies a global credit tightening could have as big an impact on emerging markets as slowing import demand in the rich world.
That sort of financial system failure is what worries Shilling, who notes that U.S. exposure to European import demand is actually fairly limited.
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But because import demand, capital flows and the need for foreign workers declined precipitously in the West, almost all developing countries are suffering.
Notice the significant slowdown of import demand quarter over quarter in Brazil, where interest rates and other credit reduction measures have started to slow the economy.
One more doubling of import demand and China will be wanting to import 600 million tons per year, about the total amount of coal exported by all exporting nations last year.
In recent months, the government has taken steps such as raising import taxes to cool demand.
Some analysts said the import number indicated vibrant domestic demand, yet the big jump in imports was largely due to commodity purchases.
Last year's rise in import duty only had a temporary impact on demand, and some analysts said the latest move would have little effect.
In the absence of new discoveries or breakthroughs in alternative energy, the continent will need to import more and more oil to meet the demand, an expensive and politically treacherous path.
The import rebound indicates soft, but resilient local demand.
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India has already taken several steps to damp demand for gold, including raising the import tax to 6% from 2% over the past year.
It doesn't have to import the bulk of its food, and when demand for agricultural commodities rises as incomes rise, Brazil is ready as the world's leading sugar, coffee, beef and chicken exporter.
Research from the National Grid released ahead of the review showed gas supplies could be even tighter this winter as import facilities remain unfinished and information on supply and demand from the continent remain unclear.
British workers will be in demand and wages will rise unless employers can import labour from low-wage countries.
Colombia is already seeing rapid growth in demand for Scotch, and removal of 15% import duty can only help.
There currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce their import of Iranian oil, taking into account current estimates of demand, increased production by countries other than Iran, inventories of crude oil and petroleum products, and available strategic petroleum reserves.
India has raised import duties on gold by a half to try to rein in demand for the precious metal.
But with Chinese demand for polysilicon growing exponentially, the country has had to import significantly higher quantities of polysilicon this year.
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When demand shot up in the cold weather, firms could not import enough gas and had almost nowhere to store it anyway.
The authorities have taken a number of steps to restrain the demand for the metal, including the federal government raising the import duty on gold and the RBI forbidding banks and non-bank financial companies from financing the purchase of gold in any form.
The country's huge demand for gold is one of the primary reasons for its large import bill, which has led to a widening of the current account deficit.
Perhaps this is because we import much of our food and ship it around the country based upon supply or demand.
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India consumes a quarter of the global gold demand of 4, 000 tonnes, and spends about 12% of its import bill on the metal.
Over the weekend, it also increased the base rate for calculating import taxes on the precious metal, another measure to make imports costlier and bring down demand.
In other words, if the price of Chinese goods to American consumers increased by 21 percent (on average) and Americans reduced their consumption of Chinese goods by less than 21 percent, then demand would be considered inelastic, the price effect would dominate, and total import value would rise (adding to the trade deficit).
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Earlier this year Dow moved to hedge future gas demand at its giant Freeport, Tex. complex by investing in a liquefied natural gas import terminal.
The rise in global commodities has aggravated the challenges of this policy, since Beijing can expect to import more goods at higher costs, even as it fails to generate new household consumption-driven demand effectively (notwithstanding the surge in automobile imports when comparing the first-quarter 2011 deficit to that of 2004).
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We will just import more from places like Brazil and Argentina, who will cut down more rainforest to satisfy this lucrative extra demand from Europe.
Given the uncertainty of future demand for these vehicles in China, it is not surprising that few foreign manufacturers are willing to import these vehicles or their parts (which are still subject to WTO-allowed import tariffs) for sale in China.
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