The EU27 has a structural, but decreasing, surplus in trade in goods with the USA. This surplus rose steadily from 32 billion euro in 2000 to a peak of 94 bn in 2006, but has fallen for the last two years, to reach 63 bn in 2008. In the first half of 2009, the EU27 trade surplus with the USA continued to fall, reaching 16 bn, compared with 33 bn in the same period of 2008.