
INFORMATION ON GOODS AND SERVICES

GOODS

CENSUS BASIS

The Census basis goods data are compiled from the documents collected by 
the U.S. Customs Service and reflect the movement of goods between foreign 
countries and the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. Foreign Trade Zones.  They include 
government and non-government shipments of goods, and exclude shipments 
between the United States and its territories and possessions, 
transactions with U.S. military, diplomatic and consular installations 
abroad, U.S. goods returned to the United States by its Armed Forces, 
personal and household effects of travelers, and in-transit shipments.  
The General imports value reflects the total arrival of merchandise from
foreign countries that immediately enters consumption channels, 
warehouses, or Foreign Trade Zones.

For imports, the value reported is the U. S. Customs Service appraised 
value of merchandise;  generally, the price paid for merchandise for 
export to the United States.  Import duties, freight, insurance, and 
other charges incurred in bringing merchandise to the United States are 
excluded.

Exports are valued at the f.a.s.- free alongside ship value of merchandise 
at the U.S. port of export, based on the transaction price including 
inland freight, insurance and other charges incurred in placing the 
merchandise alongside the carrier at the U.S. port of exportation.

Monthly data include actual month's transactions as well as a small number 
of transactions for previous months.  Each month we revise the aggregate 
seasonally adjusted (current and constant dollar) and unadjusted export, 
import and trade balance figures, as well as the end-use totals for the 
prior month.  SITC and country detail data are not revised monthly. 
The timing adjustment shown in Exhibit 14 is the difference 
between monthly data as originally reported and as recompiled.

Annual revisions for the months are made in February to reflect corrections 
received subsequent to the monthly revision. These revisions are reflected 
in totals, end-use, SITC and country summary data.  The monthly end-use, 
commodity, and country and area data presented in this release are on a 
Census basis.  This refers to Exhibits 7 - 18.

U.S./CANADA DATA EXCHANGE AND SUBSTITUTION

The data for U.S. exports to Canada are derived from import data compiled 
by Canada.  The use of Canada's import data to produce U.S. export data 
requires several alignments in order to compare the two series.

1. Coverage--Canadian imports are based on country of origin.  U.S. goods 
   shipped from a third country are included.  U.S. exports exlude these 
   foreign shipments. For February 1998, these shipments totaled $45.4
   million. U.S.export coverage also excludes certain Canadian postal 
   shipments.  For February 1998, these shipments totaled $6.1 million.

2. Valuation--Canadian imports are valued at point of origin in the United 
   States.  However, U.S. exports are valued at the port of exit in the 
   United States and include inland freight charges, making the U.S. export 
   value slightly larger.  Canada requires inland freight to be reported. 
   When it is not, an estimate of 4.5 percent is used.  Inland freight 
   charges for February 1998 account for 1.7 percent of the value of U.S. 
   exports to Canada.

3. Reexports--U.S. exports include reexports of foreign goods. Again, the 
   aggregate U.S. export figure is slightly larger.  For February 1998, 
   reexports to Canada were $1,274 million.

4. Exchange Rate--Average monthly exchange rates are applied to convert 
   the published data to U.S. currency. For February 1998, the average 
   exchange rate was 1.4334 Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar.

5. Other--There are other minor differences which are statistically 
          insignificant, such as rounding error.
    
AREA GROUPINGS (See Exhibits 15 and 15A)

North America - Canada, Mexico

Western Europe - Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, 
Cyprus, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, 
Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and Gozo,
Macedonia, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, 
Spain, Svalbard, Jan Februaryen Island, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United 
Kingdom, Vatican City, Yugoslavia.

European Union - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, 
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, 
Sweden, United Kingdom.

European Free Trade Association - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Sweden, 
Switzerland.

Eastern Europe - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech 
Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, 
Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Pacific Rim - Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Macao, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, 
Taiwan.

South/Central America -  Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, 
Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin 
Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, 
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, 
Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, 
Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, 
Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands,Uruguay,Venezuela.

OPEC - Algeria, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, 
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.

Adjustments for Seasonal and Working-Day Variations

Goods are initially classified under the Harmonized System (HS) which 
describes and measures the characteristics of goods traded.  Combining 
trade into approximately 140 export and 140 import end-use categories 
makes it possible to examine goods according to their principal uses 
(See Exhibits 8 and 9).  These categories are used as the basis for 
computing the seasonal and working-day adjusted data.  These adjusted 
data are then summed to the six end-use aggregates for publication 
(Exhibit 7).  These data are provided to the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
for use in the Balance of Payments and the National Income and Product 
Accounts.

The seasonal adjustment procedure is based on a model, which estimates 
the monthly movements as percentages above or below the general level of 
each end-use commodity series (unlike other methods that redistribute 
the actual series values over the calendar year).  Imports of petroleum 
and petroleum products are adjusted for the length of the month.  Because 
of the extremely variable movements of the data series for aircraft, users 
studying data trends may wish to analyze aircraft separately from other 
trade.  

Adjustments for Price Change

Data adjusted for seasonal variation on a constant dollar basis (1992=100) 
are presented in Exhibits 10 and 11.  This adjustment for price change is 
done at the lowest end-use level possible, then summed to the six published 
end-use aggregates. The deflators are primarily based upon the monthly 
price indexes published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics using techniques 
developed for the National Income and Product Accounts by the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis.

SITC Data

Goods data appearing in Exhibit 16 are classified in terms of the Standard 
International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 3.  

Agricultural goods consist of non-marine food products and other products 
of agriculture which have not passed through complex processes of 
manufacture, such as raw hides and skins, fats and oils, and wine.  A few 
goods such as essential oils, starches, casein, and albumin, considered to 
be agricultural by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have been excluded 
from agriculture goods and are included in manufactured goods where they 
are classified in the SITC.

Manufactured goods conform to the SITC sections that include chemicals and 
related products, N.S.P.F.; manufactured goods classified chiefly by 
material; machinery and transport equipment; miscellaneous manufactured 
articles, N.S.P.F.; and goods and transactions not classified elsewhere.

Reexports are foreign merchandise entering the country as imports and 
which at the time of exportation are in substantially the same condition 
as when imported.  Reexports, included in overall export totals, appear 
as separate line items in Exhibit 16.

Advanced Technology Products (ATP)

About 500 of some 22,000 commodity classification codes used in reporting 
U.S. merchandise trade are identified as "advanced technology" codes and 
they meet the following criteria:

1. The code contains products whose technology is from a recognized high 
   technology field (e.g., biotechnology).

2. These products represent leading edge technology in that field.

3. Such products constitute a significant part of all items covered in 
   the selected classification code.

The aggregation of the goods results in a measure of advanced technology 
trade which appears in Exhibit 17.  This product and commodity-based 
measure of advanced technology differs from broader SIC industry-based 
measures which include all goods produced by a particular industry group, 
regardless of the level of technology embodied in the goods.

NONSAMPLING ERROR

The goods data are a complete enumeration of documents collected by the
U.S. Customs Service and are not subject to samplinf errors; but they are 
subject to several types of nonsampling errors.  The most significant of
these include reporting errors, undocumented shipments, timeliness, and 
data captuer errors.  For a detailed discussion of errors effecting the
goods data, see "U.S. Merchandise Trade Statistics: A Quality Profile"
available on the INTERNET at http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
or from the Foreign Trade Division.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS (BOP) BASIS 

Goods on a Census basis are adjusted by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
to goods on a BOP basis to bring the data in line with the concepts and 
definitions used to prepare the international and national accounts.  
Broadly, the adjustments include changes in ownership that occur without 
goods passing into or out of the customs territory of the United States. 
These adjustments are necessary to supplement coverage of the Census basis 
data, to eliminate duplication of transactions recorded elsewhere in the 
international accounts, and to value transactions according to a standard 
definition.  


The export adjustments include:

U.S. military sales contracts - This deduction of U.S. military sales 
contracts is made because the Census Bureau has included these contracts 
in the goods data, but BEA includes them in the service category "Transfers 
Under U.S. Military Sales Contracts."  BEA's source material for these 
contracts is more comprehensive, but has no distinction between goods and 
services.

Private gift parcels.  This addition is made for parcels mailed to 
foreigners by individuals through the U.S. Postal Service.  (Only 
commercial shipments are covered in Census goods exports.)

Gold exports, nonmonetary.  This addition is made for gold that is 
purchased by foreign official agencies from private dealers in the 
United States and held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  The 
Census data only include gold that leaves the customs territory.

Some smaller adjustments are also made to exports: 
Deductions for repairs of goods, exposed motion picture film, and military 
grant-aid.  Additions for sales of fish in U.S. territorial waters, 
exports of electricity to Mexico, and vessels and oil rigs that change 
ownership for which no export document is filed.

The import adjustments include:

Inland freight in Canada.   An addition is made for inland freight in 
Canada.  Imports of goods from all countries are valued at the foreign 
port of export, including inland freight charges ("customs value").  In 
the case of Canada, this should be the cost of the goods at the U.S. border. 
However, the customs value for imports for certain Canadian goods is the 
point of origin in Canada.  The BEA makes an addition for the inland 
freight charges of transporting these Canadian goods to the U.S. border to
make the value comparable to the customs value as reported by all other 
countries.  Insurance and freight charges for transporting goods to the 
United States from all other countries to the U.S. border are included in 
services by the BEA.  (The same procedure is used for Mexico as an Other
Adjustment, but is much smaller.)

Gold imports, nonmonetary.  This addition is made for gold sold by foreign 
official agencies to private purchasers out of stock held at the Federal 
Reserve Bank of New York.  The Census data only includes gold that enters 
the customs territory.

Imports by U.S. military agencies.  This deduction of U.S. military sales 
contracts is made because the Census Bureau has included these contracts 
in the goods data, but BEA includes them in the service category "Direct 
Defense Expenditures".  BEA's source material is more comprehensive, but 
has no distinction between goods and services.  

Some smaller adjustments are also made to imports: 
Deductions for repairs of goods, and exposed motion picture film.  
Additions for imported electricity from Mexico, conversion of vessels for 
commercial use, and repairs to U.S. vessels abroad.

SERVICES

The statistics are estimates of services transactions between foreign 
countries and the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories and possessions.  
Transactions with U.S. military, diplomatic, and consular installations 
abroad are excluded because they are considered to be part of the U.S. 
economy.

Services are shown in seven broad categories.  Types of services for 
imports and exports are the same for six of the seven categories.  For 
the seventh, exports is "Transfers Under U.S. Military Sales Contracts" 
while for imports the category is "Direct Defense Expenditures".  The 
following is a brief description of the types of services included in each
category:

Travel - Purchases of services and goods by U.S. travelers abroad and by 
foreign visitors to the United States.  A traveler is defined as a person 
who stays for a period of less than 1 year in a country of which the person 
is not a resident.  Travel includes expenditures for food, lodging, 
recreation, gifts, and other items incidental to a foreign visit.

Passenger Fares - Fares paid by residents of one country to residents in 
other countries.  Receipts consist of fares received by U.S. carriers from 
foreign residents for travel between the United States and foreign 
countries and between two foreign points.  Payments consist of fares paid 
by U.S. residents to foreign carriers for travel between the United States 
and foreign countries.

Other Transportation - Charges for the transportation of goods by ocean, 
air, waterway, pipeline, and rail carriers to and from the United States.  
Includes freight charges, operating expenses that transportation companies 
incur in foreign ports, and payments for vessel charter and aircraft and 
freight car rentals.

Royalties and License Fees - Transactions with foreign residents involving 
intangible assets and proprietary rights, such as the use of patents, 
techniques, processes, formulas, designs, know-how, trademarks, copyrights, 
franchises, and manufacturing rights.  The term "royalties" generally 
refers to payments for the utilization of copyrights or trademarks, and 
the term "license fees" generally refers to payments for the use of patents 
or industrial processes.

Other Private Services - Transactions with affiliated foreigners, for which 
no identification by type is available, and of transactions with 
unaffiliated foreigners.  (The term "affiliated" refers to a direct 
investment relationship, which exists when a U.S. person has ownership or 
control, directly or indirectly, of 10 percent or more of a foreign 
business enterprise's voting securities or the equivalent, or when a 
foreign person has a similar interest in a U.S. enterprise.)  Transactions 
with unaffiliated foreigners consist of education services; financial 
services (includes commissions and other transactions fees associated with 
the purchase and sale of securities and noninterest income of banks, and 
excludes investment income); insurance premiums and losses; 
telecommunications services (includes transmission services and value-added 
services); and business, professional, and technical services. Included in 
the last group are advertising services; computer and data processing 
services; database and other information services; research, development, 
and testing services; management, consulting, and public relations 
services;legal services; construction, engineering, architectural, and 
mining services; industrial engineering services; installation, 
maintenance, repair of equipment; and other services, including medical 
services and film and tape rental.

Transfers Under U.S. Military Sales Contracts (Exports only) - Exports of 
goods and services in which U.S. Government military agencies participate.  
Includes both goods, such as equipment, and services, such as repair 
services and training, that cannot be separately identified. 

Direct Defense Expenditures (Imports only) - Expenditures incurred by U.S. 
military agencies abroad, including expenditures by U.S. personnel, 
payments of wages to foreign residents, construction expenditures, payments 
for foreign contractual services, and procurement of foreign goods.  
Includes both goods and services that cannot be separately identified.

U.S. Government Miscellaneous Services - Transactions of U.S. Government 
nonmilitary agencies with foreign residents.  Most of these transactions 
involve the provision of services to, or purchases of services from, 
foreigners; transfers of some goods are also included.

Services estimates are based on quarterly, annual, and benchmark surveys 
and partial information generated from monthly reports.  Service 
transactions are estimated at market prices.  Estimates are seasonally 
adjusted when statistically significant seasonal patterns are present.  
No country or area detail is available due to the lack of adequate source 
data upon which to base estimates.

The revision policy is as follows: Each month a preliminary estimate will 
be released for the current month and a revised estimate for the 
immediately preceding month.  After a revised month is released, no 
further changes will be made until the quarterly international transactions 
estimates, based on more complete source data, are released.  The first 
monthly release that follows the quarterly international transactions 
release will contain revised estimates for the previous six months, in 
order to align the monthly estimates with the quarterly estimates. Annual 
revisions for the months and quarters are made in February, which incorporate 
updated source data and changes in estimating methodologies.

Quarterly and annual estimates of services are included as part of the 
U.S. international transactions accounts, published in the April, February, 
February, and February issues of the Survey of Current Business. 
Next release is scheduled for March 12, June 18, September 10, and December
9, 1998.  The Survey is available from the Superintendent of Documents, 
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

ELECTRONIC AVAILABILITY.

The FT900 and supplement are available on the following:

INTERNET  The U.S. Internetional Trade in Goods and Services reports for
the current month and previous years are available at:
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www

STAT-USA The U.S. Department of Commerce's electronic information
facility.   Call 1 800 STAT-USA for product information.

Additional data and information on goods is obtainable from:
Foreign Trade Division, Bureau of the Census Washington, D.C.  20233

Additional data and information on services is obtainable from:
Balance of Payments Division, Bureau of Economic Analysis 
Washington D.C.  20230

Monthly FT-900 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Release 
dates for 1998:  5-20-98, 6-18-98, 7-17-98, 8-18-98, 9-17-98, 
10-20-98, 11-18-98, 12-17-98, 1-21-99, 2-19-99


SOURCE: Report FT900 (CB-98-60), Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade
        Division, FEBRUARY 1998.  For more information, contact Haydn R. 
        Mearkle (301-457-2246) or Richard M. Preuss (301-457-2311), 
        Foreign Trade Division.