According to the latest "Manufacturers' Alliance for Productivity and Innovation" (MAPI) report, 2016 will see a significant acceleration of growth in US manufacturing sector. Last June 0MAPI published an update of its quarterly economic forecast, which shows that the US real GDP is expected to expand by 2.5% in 2015 and 4.0% in 2016. "A number of factors that have driven growth in the past year have changed in 2015," said MAPI chief economist Daniel J. Meckstroth. "A sudden, rapid decline in oil and natural gas prices has been positive for consumers but problematic for drilling, energy exploration. Furthermore, a sudden, rapid increase in the value of the US dollar hurt our trade competitiveness, and a large inventory accumulation last winter pushed the inventories/sales ratio beyond the desirable rate, and consumers are cautious and risk-averse. Many of these shocks that slowed growth this year will be absorbed, yet growth in 2016 won’t hold". "Assuming that we have a return to a 'normal winter' this year” Meckstroth believes that “production is expected to get a boost". The MAPI report provides economic forecasts on 23 of the 27 industries covered. MAPI anticipates that 19 sectors will grow in 2015, and one third will fall, while that of aluminum will be in line with 2014 levels. Among the “Top performer” sectors, with an expected annual growth of 11%, there are engines, turbines and power transmission equipment and industrial machineries. Thanks to a 6% increase Italian exports to the US have gone from € 1.3 billion in the first half of 2014 to € 1.4 billion in the same period of 2015. Italy holds a prominent position among the leading suppliers of machinery and instrumental technologies, ranking 7th overall with a market share of 5.4% (6.3% in 2014), trailing Japan, Germany, China, Canada, Mexico and South Korea and ahead of the UK and France. In the first six months of 2015 total US imports of the 15 Machines Italy sectors increased 25%, reaching € 25.7 billion. US imports of major product categories have increased across the board except in textile machinery (-13.4%) and machinery packing and packaging (-3.1%). Nearly 60% of US imports of capital goods consist of hydraulic components, pneumatic and transmission components, agricultural machines and earth moving and construction machinery. In the first six months of 2015, the US recorded positive growth in the macro-sector of mechanical engineering from Italy. Only six of the fifteen Machines Italy sectors have trailed: marble and stone processing machines (-41.5%), agricultural machinery (-15.7%), foundry machines (-12.1%), textile machinery (-11.9%), machinery industry graphics and paper (-11.7%) and machine tools (-1.5%). As regards Italian imports, the greatest double-digit increases in 2015 were: glass processing machines (+ 63.2%), earthmoving and construction machinery (57.3%), woodworking (+ 30.7%), ceramics (+ 24.2%), hydraulic components, pneumatic and transmission components (+ 17.8%) and packaging machines and packaging (+ 13.5%).