Band 7+: The three charts below show the value in Australian dollars of Australian trade with three different countries from 2004 to 2009. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

The three line graphs compare the import and export values of Australian trade with China, Japan, and the United States between 2004 and 2009.

Overall, the export values of trade with China and Japan showed increased, albeit to varying degrees, while that of trade with the US remained relatively constant across the years. The import values, meanwhile, showed little changes in trade with Japan and the US, but the figures rose noticeably in terms of China.

Regarding trade with China, in 2004, import recorded around A$19 billion, around A$7 billion higher than exports. The import values then experienced a steady rise to roughly A$31 billion in 2008 before remaining stable until 2009. A more significant increase was observed in exports with a surge to about A$35 billion in 2009, marking the year in which exports overtook import by A$4 billion.

As for the United States, the import values of Australia ranged between A$20 billion and A$23 billion over the period. Exports followed a similar pattern, staying at around A$10 billion, with a peak of A$13 billion in 2008.

Trade with Japan showed a contrasting picture, where the figure for exports always higher than that for import. While import values stood at about A$20 billion across the period, that of exports surged to A$40 billion before falling to approximately A$31 billion in 2009.