Record Highs for Exports and Imports in March

Posted on May 10, 2012 by katrinarosen

By: Jeff McHugh

For March 2012, the trade deficit in goods and services increased to $51.8 billion from $45.4 billion (revised) in February, as both exports and imports increased to record highs of $186.8 billion and $238.6 billion, respectively. 

March goods exports ($131.5 billion) and imports ($198.0 billion) were the highest on record.  March saw record exports of Industrial Supplies and Materials ($44.3 billion) and Capital Goods ($44.4 billion).  March also saw record highs in imports of Capital Goods ($47.7 billion) and Automative Vehicles, Parts, and Engines ($25.4 billion).  March exports ($54.1 billion) and imports ($38.3 billion) of services were also the highest on record.  Other March press release highlights can be found on the Trade Highlights page.

The Graph of the Month for March shows U.S. Imports of Automobiles (NAICS 3361) from Japan over the last 18 months.  The dip in April and May clearly shows the effects of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The graph also shows that automobile imports from Japan have returned to their pre-earthquake levels and have actually increased the past three months.

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 2011 report.  

For more information on the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, or to sign up to be notified by email when changes occur, go to the Foreign Trade Statistical Notices page.

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Who Imported and Who Exported in 2010?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Global Reach Daniel

By: Ryan Coleman

It’s that time of the year again, the time to release of the Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies! This year’s release is for 2009-2010. It includes information on importers as well as exporters and it features a new exhibit on small and medium-sized exporting companies (SMEs).

So what’s in the Profile?

Our Profile is built around seven exhibits with multiple data tables on importers, exporters, or both.

If you want to know how many companies export from Maine, the Profile has that.

If you wanted to know how many small sized companies (99 employees or less) are importing from China, as opposed to large or medium sized companies, the Profile has that.

Say that you want to know how much value was exported to only related parties by companies employing between fifty and ninety-nine employees, the Profile has that too!

This report has much more to offer than just the three examples above, so feel free to take a look at the 2009-2010 release.

What’s this new exhibit all about?

Well, if you want to know about small and medium-sized exporters (and who doesn’t these days?), then Exhibit 7 is right up your alley. The new exhibit features exports from SMEs by 3-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. This exhibit is based on each company’s NAICS code, rather than NAICS product codes. For our data, a company’s NAICS code is assigned to the company by the Census Bureau, based on the primary economic activity of that company. On the other hand, product NAICS codes are assigned to each export or import record based on what is reported by the company, and are not determined by the company’s individual NAICS code.

With the addition of Exhibit 7, if you want to know how much value was exported in 2010 by small and medium-sized companies with NAICS 312 (Beverage & Tobacco Product Manufacturing), the Profile now has that.

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EEI: Trade Term of the Month

Posted on April 25, 2012 by rosannatorres

By: Omari Wooden

I have been with the Foreign Trade Division for close to 15 years, which means I know a ton of acronyms that are frequently used in the trade community. Actually, I could have an entire conversation using several of those acronyms!

“The paper SED was formerly governed under the FTSR and it became obsolete for the export of items under the USML and CCL and now all exports are reported as EEI into the AES, which is now governed under the FTR.”

Some of you understand exactly what I said, while others may be a bit dazed and confused.

This leads me to the Trade Term for the month of April: EEI.

EEI is the Electronic Export Information reported in the Automated Export System (AES). It is also referred to as the AES record, electronic Shipper’s Export Declaration, the “shipper”, and so forth. The EEI includes vital information to your export shipment, such as:

  • Party information – U.S. seller or manufacturer, foreign customer, authorized agent
  • Logistics – Date of export, location your goods are leaving the U.S., country of ultimate destination
  • Commodity information – Value, quantity, classification number, shipping weight, product description

All of the information reported in the EEI is processed and stored in AES. If you report incorrect information, the AES will send you a response message for you to correct your mistake. Once you’ve reported your information correctly you’ll receive a confirmation that your EEI has been accepted. Accurate information reported in your EEI is vital to our trade statistics and is critical to your compliance efforts.

For more information about reporting EEI into AES, please call 1-800-549-0595, Menu Option #1. You may also find EEI and other trade terms in our Definitions page.

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“The Census Bureau? Wasn’t the Census 2 years ago?”

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Global Reach Daniel

By: Sean Kline

Recently, I had the privilege of working in our Commodity Analysis Branch (CAB) for three months to learn more about the things they do on a regular basis. As part of this assignment, I frequently called members of the trade community. One of the things I learned quickly is that most people have no idea that the Census Bureau is the agency responsible for collecting the nation’s export statistics and publishing the U.S. merchandise trade data. When they think of the Census Bureau they think of this guy knocking on their door…

If I introduced myself as “Sean Kline with the Department of Commerce,” there was no confusion, but my alter ego, “Sean Kline from the Census Bureau,” put people in a tizzy. Now that my time in CAB is over and I’m back to my blog-writing ways, I thought it would be a good opportunity to explain exactly why the Census Bureau collects export information.

The Census Bureau is responsible for collecting, compiling, and publishing export trade statistics for the United States under the provisions of Title 13, United States Code, Chapter 9, Section 301. This gives the Census Bureau the authority to collect export information for the nation. As a result, we collect information on the physical movement of goods leaving the U.S. We also collaborate with other agencies such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), who publish data on services exports, and Customs and Border Protection to publish the monthly International Trade Statistics. In addition, we work with agencies such as the State Department and Bureau of Industry and Security to ensure that the export of sensitive commodities is monitored and regulated properly.

As you can see, in addition to publishing information about our nation’s population, the Census Bureau provides statistics on U.S. foreign trade. So if you get a call from the Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division at some point in the future, it’s unlikely the caller will be asking where you were on Census day.

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Trade Deficit Decreases in February

Posted on April 12, 2012 by katrinarosen

By: Janet Freas

For February 2012, the trade deficit in goods and services decreased to $46.0 billion from $52.5 billion (revised) in January, as exports increased to a record high of $181.2 billion and imports decreased to $227.2 billion. 

February exports ($53.2 billion) and imports ($37.8 billion) of services were the highest on record.   Other February press highlights include Exports of Capital Goods ($43.2 billion) were the highest on record and exports of Foods, Feeds, and Beverages ($10.0 billion) were the lowest since December 2010 ($8.1 billion). (Exhibit 6)

As the U.S sees higher gasoline prices, the February quantity of crude oil imports (226 million barrels) was the lowest since February 1997 (211 million barrels). (Exhibit 17) In addition, the February deficit with OPEC ($6.4 billion) was the lowest since October 2010 ($5.6 billion) and the February imports from OPEC ($12.2 billion) were the lowest since November 2010 ($11.6 billion).  (Exhibit 14) The graph below shows the U.S. import trade with OPEC for that period. More visual U.S. Trade facts including petroleum imports are located in Foreign Trade’s interactive graphs found at http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/graphs/

For more information on the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, or to sign up to be notified by email when changes occur, go to the Foreign Trade Statistical Notices page.

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Clarification to October 2010 Newsletter – DSP-5 licenses in the AES

Posted on April 4, 2012 by rosannatorres

By: Omari Wooden

Based on the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) section 30.2(a)(1)(iv), any export shipment requiring a U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) license or that is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) must be reported in the Automated Export System (AES), regardless of value or destination. In the October 2010 AES Newsletter, I wrote an article titled, “Advice for reporting a DSP-5 license in the AES.” The article was intended to clarify the reporting requirements based on the fields in the AES as compared to the information contained on the DSP-5 license.

Today, I specifically want to provide clarification related to the End User and Ultimate Consignee field. As I mentioned in the article, there is no End User field in the AES; however, the Ultimate Consignee may be the End User. Based on the FTR 30.1, the definition of the Ultimate Consignee, “the person, party, or designee that is located abroad and actually receives the export shipment. This party may be the end user or Foreign Principal Party in Interest (FPPI).” Based on the definition in the FTR, box 14 on the DSP-5 license, “Foreign End User” will need to be shown as the Ultimate Consignee in the AES.

Be sure to review the requirements found in both the FTR and the ITAR when reporting the DSP-5 licensed shipments in the AES.

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Changes to the AES Compliance Report Scheduled for April 2012

Posted on March 28, 2012 by rosannatorres

By: Eric Gauthier

In an effort to increase the awareness of the requirement to resolve all AES Fatal Errors, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division will modify the AES Compliance Rate calculation to include outstanding Fatal Errors. This modification will provide AES filers a complete Compliance Rate that reflects a filer’s effort to maintain compliance with the Foreign Trade Regulations.

Beginning with the April 2012 AES Compliance Report, the new Compliance Rate will be implemented and filers will receive additional information regarding any unresolved AES Fatal Errors. The report will display the details of shipments with unresolved fatal errors including the Shipment Reference Numbers, AES Response Codes and AES Response Narratives. A listing of the most frequent unresolved fatal error(s) and their associated reason and resolution will be provided on the report.

Two weeks following the AES Compliance Report, filers with remaining fatal errors will receive an AES Fatal Error Report as they have in the past. Only one AES Fatal Error Report will be sent to filers each month, rather than two per month as disseminated currently.

As with the current calculation, the new rate will continue to take into account the number of monthly AES Compliance Alerts per shipment. However, the rate will include the number of unresolved Fatal Errors for the specified month.

To maintain a high compliance rate, filers should:

  1. Make sure your AES Compliance and AES Fatal Error Reports are sent to the appropriate person in your company
  2. Minimize the total number of monthly AES Compliance Alerts
  3. Monitor and resolve outstanding Fatal Errors as soon as they are received
  4. Properly suppress or resubmit rejected shipments
  5. Familiarize yourself with Appendix A– Commodity Filing Response Messages to correct Fatal Errors

Filers with few or no Fatal Errors will continue to see similar compliance rates under the new calculation. Filers with increasing numbers of unresolved Fatal Errors with respect to their number of shipments filed can expect significant decreases in their monthly compliance rates until these errors are addressed.

As a reminder,15 CFR Part 30 – Section 30.9 states that these errors must be corrected and EEI resubmitted prior to export for shipments filed predeparture and as soon as possible for shipments filed postdeparture but not later than ten calendar days after departure.

The new calculation will increase awareness of each filer’s overall compliance with the Foreign Trade Regulations and help filers become more proactive in “getting it right the first time.”

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End-Use: Trade Term of the Month

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Global Reach Daniel

By: Terri Long

The Foreign Trade Division references several different commodity classifications throughout its products and services. While most exporters are familiar with the Schedule B statistical classification (also commonly referred to as the Harmonized System), many of the other classifications are not as widely known.

The March Trade Term of the Month is End-Use. End-use is a commodity classification system that identifies merchandise based on principal use rather than the physical characteristics of the merchandise. There are six principal categories:

  • Foods, Feeds & Beverages
  • Industrial Supplies
  • Capital Goods
  • Automotive Vehicles, etc.
  • Consumer Goods
  • Other Goods

A passenger car, for example, would be classified under the Automotive Vehicles category.

End-use codes are assigned by the Bureau of Economic Analysis and used in developing seasonally adjusted and constant dollar totals. Exhibit Six of the U.S. International Trade in Goods & Services Report (FT900) reports the Exports and Imports of Goods by Principal End-Use Category published on a monthly and year-to-date basis. At the Foreign Trade Division, we produce a graph of U.S. Trade by End-Use each month: Click here

For more information about End-Use or other commodity classifications, please visit the Guide to Foreign Trade Statistics. You can also find End-use and other trade terms in our Definitions page.

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U.S. Exports of Goods Continue to Grow

Posted on March 12, 2012 by rosannatorres

One of the primary tools of the National Export Initiative (NEI) is the U.S. merchandise trade statistics captured by the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau. Examining the trade statistics provides a business with the information needed to make efficient and effective decisions for their export strategy. The statistics may also be used to evaluate the current and historical trends of U.S. exports and imports.

The table below displays the top five U.S. export commodities (NAICS-based) with the highest growth rate from 2009 – 2011, based on total dollar value in millions. By studying the data, we can see that over that two-year period, U.S. exports of goods have increased 40.2%. Iron ores registered the largest individual increase at 274.0%. Cattle (206.0%), coal (164.7%), swine (152.9%), and cotton (151.2%) completed the top five.

Using USA Trade Online, the official online source of U.S. merchandise trade data, you can explore trading trends and market outlook by product and country.  This level of market research will help you remain competitive and increase export sales, by determining where there is a market for your individual product.

From the table above, we can use USA Trade Online to find the top trading markets for each specific commodity by year.  For example, in the chart below, we have identified the top 10 countries of destination for U.S. exports of cattle in 2011 by dollar value.

In 2011, the U.S. exported a staggering $210.6 million of cattle to Turkey alone, making it the #1 country of destination for the year. Following Turkey were Russia ($96.1 million), Canada ($44.9 million), Mexico ($32.5 million), and Kazakhstan ($13.9 million). Brazil ($13.6 million), United Kingdom ($12.2 million), Argentina ($10.2 million), Iran ($7.2 million), and Japan ($6.9 million) rounded out the top 10.

Register for a free trial to USA Trade Online today to get started assessing your market strategy.  For more information about U.S. export statistics, contact the Foreign Trade Division at 1-800-549-0595 option 4.

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Trade Deficit Increases in January

Posted on March 9, 2012 by katrinarosen

By: Joe Kafchinski

For January 2012, the trade deficit in goods and services increased to $52.6 billion from $50.4 billion (revised) in December, as the $4.7 billion increase in imports outpaced the $2.6 billion increase in exports. January imports of $233.4 billion were a record.

January saw record imports of Capital Goods ($44.7 billion); Automotive Vehicles, Parts, and Engines ($25.3 billion); and Foods, Feeds, and Beverages ($9.6 billion). Exports of Capital Goods ($43.2 billion) and Automotive Vehicles, Parts, and Engines ($12.7 billion) were also records in January.

As is typical with the January statistical month release, a few methodological and organizational changes were introduced to the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Report. The most significant of these is the introduction of an additional level of seasonal adjustment to the chained dollar series (Exhibits 10 and 11). The underlying data used to calculate the chained dollar data has always been seasonally adjusted, but with January 2012 statistics we have also started seasonally adjusting the prices used to deflate the data to the 2005 base year. For those interested, more information on the chain-weighting process, and seasonal adjustment of chained dollars can be found here and here. New seasonally adjusted data are available back to January 2010.

For more information on past and present changes to the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, or to sign up to be notified by email when changes occur, go to the Foreign Trade Statistical Notices page.

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