If you want to start exporting, but not sure where to start, you should tune in to the Go Global Webinar Series. The Census Bureau partnered with other government agencies to bring to you the resources available to help you succeed.

The second webinar in a series of eleven was held yesterday, focusing on: “Preparing Your Business For Export”.

Access Archived Webinar Here

In this webinar, experts from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) talked about help available to expand business abroad. SBA and SBDCs have expertise in trade and business counseling and can help you develop an export business plan.  SBA also offers you a free interactive Export Business Planner. The Planner helps you identify target markets, understand financial options, and calculate sales forecasts. Together, you and an SBDC counselor can use the Planner to build your Export Business and Marketing Plan.

If you are considering expanding into the global marketplace, this series of webinars is just what you need to see. Each webinar is led by financial, regulatory, and trade experts and focuses on different topics – from picking your market, accessing trade data, learning about available financing options, just to name a few. Best of all, they are free!

You can’t afford to miss out.

Sign up for upcoming webinars at: http://go.usa.gov./T37A

Registration closes 24 hours before each webinar.

What’s a FILER ID and why do you need it?

The Filer ID is the number that identifies a person or company certified to file in the AES. As mentioned in my previous post, knowing your Filer ID is important for you to correctly file shipments in AES and to reference when contacting us.

The Filer ID is usually an Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Some companies that export on behalf of other companies may also use identification numbers obtained from the Dun & Bradstreet company- “D-U-N-S numbers.”

Not sure what EIN you used?

If you file shipments through AESDirect or AESPcLink, the Filer ID is the EIN you submitted in the registration form.

If you use software from a commercial vendor or an AES service center, the Filer ID is the EIN reported in your AES Letter of Intent.

If an authorized agent files shipments on your behalf, the Filer ID is the agent’s EIN or D-U-N-S number. If you need to find out about a shipment an agent filed on your behalf, you must submit a Data Request.

Example:

If you authorize an agent to file your shipment, the agent will do so under their own Filer ID (because that is linked to their account). If you have a question about the transaction and contact the FTD Call Center, you need to know their Filer ID or the ITN.

How to Locate:

AESDirect Filers:

1. Log in to your account to go to the Main Menu.
2. Locate the Account Summary section on the right of your screen.
3. Click on My Company and your EIN will show on-screen.

AESPcLinkFilers:

1. You must log in to obtain this information.
2. Go to the Tools Menu on the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Click on Show Account Information and your EIN will show onscreen.

Other Software Providers or Service Centers: contact your IT or Accounting department to find out your EIN.

We have partnered with other government agencies to bring to you the Go Global Webinar Series.

If you are considering expanding into the global marketplace, this series of webinars is just what you need to see. Each webinar is led by financial, regulatory, and trade experts and focuses on different topics – from picking your market, accessing trade data, learning about available financing options, just to name a few. Best of all, they are free!

You can’t afford to miss out.

Yesterday we held the 1st webinar of the series entitled “Where to get started.”

In this webinar, Doug Barry from the International Trade Administration shared the benefits of exporting and opportunities for growth. He also discussed many of the trade resources found on export.gov such as the book “A Basic Guide to Exporting“, exporting success stories, training and guidance for businesses looking to expand abroad.

If you missed it, click here to watch a recorded version of this webinar.

Remember you can sign up for other upcoming webinars at: http://go.usa.gov./T37A

Registration closes 24 hours before each webinar.

The Nation’s international trade deficit decreased to $38.8 billion from $43.6 billion in February (revised).  Exports decreased $1.7 billion to $184.3 billion, primarily due to a $1.1 billion decline of petroleum exports. Imports decreased more than exports, falling $6.5 billion to $223.1 billion. Much of the decline in imports was due to a fall of $1.9 billion of imports of crude oil as well as a fall of $1.1 billion of imports of computers.

Imports of petroleum continued to be the big story this month. The seasonally adjusted petroleum deficit decreased $0.3 billion to $21.1 billion, but still higher than December’s deficit of $18.6 billion.  Not seasonally adjusted data show that average daily barrels of crude oil imported in March (7.0 million) were the lowest since March 1996 (6.5 million). The graph of the month shows the same data for the top five countries of import in March 2013 over the past two years.

Advanced Technology Product Exports Increase

March exports of Advanced Technology Products were the highest on record, climbing $4.9 billion to $27.9 billion. This is a 21.5% increase from the February level of $23.0 billion. The greatest increases came from gains in trade in the aerospace group ($1.8 billion) where we currently have a trade surplus of $5.7 billion. Exports in the information and communications group increased $1.3 billion, while exports in the nuclear technology group increased $0.6 billion.

Related-Party Exports and Imports Increase in 2012

In addition to the March U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Report, the Census Bureau also released the U.S. Goods Trade: Imports & Exports by Related-Parties 2012 report.  In 2012, related-party trade accounted for 41.7 percent ($1,582.3 billion) of total goods trade ($3,797.5 billion). This represents an increase of 6.6 percent ($97.8 billion) in related-party trade from 2011. During the same period, total trade increased by only 3.5 percent ($130.0 billion).

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, who doesn’t love a great deal?

Despite their benefit, not all discounts are considered equal when it comes to reporting the value in the AES. The Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) §30.6(a)(17) define value as the net selling price plus the inland or domestic freight cost, insurance and any other charges incurred to get the shipment to the U.S. port of export.

The value should reflect the net selling price the foreign buyer has paid the USPPI for the goods.  However, if a foreign buyer receives a discount on the export sale, the discount may or may not need to be deducted from the selling price. According to the FTR, if the foreign buyer received a discount based on a condition he or she performed or acted, then it should not be deducted from the net selling price.  Let’s take a look at the scenarios below:

Scenario 1: Include Discount in Value

Let us say you are in the business of selling and exporting vehicles and decide to have a sale on all your older model cars. Your sale then leads a man in Puerto Rico to purchase a vehicle. In this case, the discounted sales price along with all the other cost detailed in FTR §30.6(a)(17)(i) would be incorporated in the value reported in the AES. This discounted sales price would be the reported net selling price because it is an unconditional discount; the discounted sales price applies to everyone who purchases a car from the seller.

Scenario2: Exclude Discount from Value

However, let us say the seller says to the foreign buyer, “If you pay cash you will receive an additional 10% discount.” The foreign buyer agrees and pays cash. In this case, the sales price before the additional 10% discount would be the selling price to be reported in the AES {see FTR §30.6(a)(17)(i)}. The selling price would not include the 10% discount from the sales price because it is conditioned on the customer paying cash.

The Bottom Line

To ensure you are applying discounts correctly in the value you are reporting in the AES, ask yourself was the selling price determined by a special condition or act from the foreign buyer?

If yes, report the sales price before the discount was applied, as we saw in scenario 2.

If no, report the price the foreign buyer paid at the time of sale, as we saw in scenario 1.

The chart below provides a quick guide on how to determine what value to report.

For more information please reference Section 30.6 (17)(i) of the Foreign Trade Regulations( FTR).

The Caribbean is an excellent place to spend the rainy days of spring. Don’t let your vacation be ruined by not being able to take your recently purchased goods with you!

If your shipment is leaving the U.S. Virgin Islands and coming back into the United States, what do you file and when? This will depend on the purpose and the value. Take a look at the table below for guidance.

Click here for more information

If your goods are moving from USVI to a foreign country then you must file in the Automated Export System (AES) all licensed commodities regardless of value and all commodities valued over $2,500 per Schedule B. However, if your commodity has a value of $2,500 or less, pursuant the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), you must declare that you are exempt from filing Electronic Export Information (EEI) in the AES by writing exemption legend “No EEI FTR 30.37(a)” on your shipping documents, which references the application section in the FTR.

Note: Rough diamonds shipments must be declared regardless of value.

For more information,  call the Foreign Trade Division at 1-800-549-0595 Option 3.

Submit Your Export Story For a Chance to Win $10,000!

The U.S. Small Business Administration is partnering with VISA USA to sponsor a video contest on Exporting Successes. Videos must highlight best accounting practices that ensure payments from customers and at least one of the following:

• Important lessons learned
• Factors that influenced you to become an exporter
• Advice for other small businesses considering exporting
• A favorite exporting story

For more information and to Accept the Challenge, visit: http://exportvideo.challenge.gov/

Export Challenge Video

Improve your video by adding some statistics!

The U.S. Census Bureau collects, compiles, and publishes monthly trade statistics on goods exported from the United States. Every month, along with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, they release the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Report. If you want to incorporate some of these statistics in your video, make sure to obtain them from the official source, USA Trade Online.

In February, the Nation’s international trade deficit decreased to $43.0 billion from $44.5 billion in January.  Exports increased $1.6 billion to $186.0 billion, primarily due to an increase of $1.1 billion in petroleum exports.  Meanwhile imports increased $0.1 billion to $228.9, as a decrease of $2.0 billion in petroleum imports offset increases in nonpetroleum goods and services ($2.1 billion).

While the seasonally adjusted petroleum deficit decreased $3.1 billion to $21.2 billion, it is still higher than the December deficit of $18.6 billion.   The big petroleum highlight this month is in the not seasonally adjusted data, which shows the barrels of crude oil imported in February (205 million) were the lowest since March 1996 (202 million).

A Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies, 2010-2011

This month also marks the release of the 2010-2011 Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies.  If you aren’t familiar with it, the Profile is our annual release that combines FTD’s trade data with company information from the Census Business Register to provide company statistics on exporters and importers.   With the information from the Business Register, we are able to breakdown exports or imports by the size or industry of the companies doing the exporting or importing.   Using this company information along with what we gather in our trade data, we are able to provide data users with information such as how much value was imported by small (less than 100 employees) manufacturing companies from China.   Of course, this is just one example of many that you can find in the Profile, so please feel free to check out the release.

There is one slight change to the Profile from last year’s release.  In previous Profiles, Exhibit 6 has always shown trade totals by state.  This year, this exhibit also shows the export value of small- and medium-sized companies for each state, along with the total export value.

On Sunday March 24, 2013 we activated the AES Downtime Policy for AESDirect filers only.  What does that mean?

The Downtime Policy is used instead of an ITN Number when there is an AES outage or when the AESDirect system is down for an undetermined period of time. You can only use the Downtime Policy if an AES Broadcast message confirms that it can be used. Under no circumstances should State Department controlled shipments leave the country under this policy.

If you use the Downtime Policy, make sure you do things the right way.  A couple of hints:

Annotation:

AESDOWN – Filer ID – Date of Export (MM/DD/YYYY)

Responsibilities :

• Keep a log of shipments exported under the Downtime Policy
• Once the system is back up, file for shipments that were exported under this policy
• Keep track of your Compliance Alerts

Remember that when the date of filing is after the date of export, Compliance Alerts are generated.  This alert is automatically triggered by the AES and cannot be changed. If you receive a Compliance Alert for shipments exported under the Downtime Policy, keep a copy of the AES Downtime Broadcast along with the ITN(s).

For more information, read: http://globalreach.blogs.census.gov/2010/07/14/a-look-into-the-aes-downtime-policy/

The Port of Export is a four-digit code that identifies specific ports as listed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) where your shipment can leave the country. The Port of Export is a required field in the Automated Export System (AES) and it can easily generate Fatal Errors or worse, penalties and fines. In fact, filing an incorrect Port of Export Code is one of the top errors that CBP issues penalties for. Entering the correct Port of Export reduces shipment delays while CBP examines your shipment.

Let’s look at the port of export code for Miami, FL. Sounds simple, right? Using the look up function in AESDirect, and searching “Miami”, you would get the port of export code 5201… and 5206, 5271, 5273, 5295, 5297, 5298! So which one is right? Not so simple is it? You can see that there appears to be many options. When a situation like this arises, here are a couple of questions that will help as a guide to finding the right Port of Export Code.

Where is your shipment leaving the country?

Understanding where your shipment is going to leave the country and cross the border is critical to avoiding errors from misreporting Port of Export Codes. For example, you may give your package to a carrier in San Diego, CA, but that does not always mean it will be leaving the country at that port. Do not stop here.

What is your Mode of Transportation?

Pay attention to your mode of transport; each port allows specific modes. If you file a truck shipment, but select a vessel and air only port like San Diego, you will generate a fatal error. By using the AESTIR’s Appendix D, you are able to verify that your Port of Export Code will accept your mode of transportation. This will help you avoid selecting the wrong Port of Export.

How is Your Communication?

Your carrier is your greatest information source for the selection of your Port of Export Code. Contacting your carrier and requesting the port of export for your shipment will help mitigate any issues with selecting the correct code. Another great source is your local customs officer. Establishing good communication with them will help when you find you can’t identify the Port of Export Code you need to report.

Remember to ask these three questions before reporting the Port of Export Code:

1) Where is your shipment leaving the country?

2) How is it leaving the country (mode of transport)?

3) Did you contact your carrier to confirm this information?