That being said, I would note that the value of the dollar does not appear to play much of a role in explaining the decline in U.S. exports over the past year. The current level of the trade-weighted dollar is about where it has been, on average, over the past few years.
However, looking back several years, the 25 percent appreciation of the dollar that occurred in 2014 was an important contributing factor to the previous noticeable decline in U.S. exports that took place in 2015 and 2016. Global financial markets also link the United States to the global economy, and developments abroad can spill over into domestic financial conditions, with material effects on domestic activity.