 
               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 June 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 6 - 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 exclude these foreign shipments.  For October  
     2001, these shipments totaled $ 59.1 million. U.S. export
     coverage also excludes certain Canadian postal shipments. 
     For October 2001, these shipments totaled $9.6 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.
     Inland freight charges for October 2001 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 October 2001, reexports to Canada were 
     $1,564 million.
   
4.   Exchange Rate -- Average monthly exchange rates are applied
     to convert the published data to U.S. currency. For October
     2001, the average exchange rate was 1.5717 Canadian dollars
     per U.S. dollar.

5.   Other -- There are other minor differences which are
     statistically insignificant, such as rounding error.

Canadian Estimates

Effective with January 2001 statistics, the current month
data for exports to Canada contains an estimate for late arrivals
and corrections.  The following month, this estimate will be
replaced, in the press release tables only, with the actual 
value of late receipts and corrections.  This estimate will 
improve the current month data for exports to Canada and treat
late receipts for exports to Canada in a manner more consistent 
with the treatment of late receipts for exports to other countries.

AREA GROUPINGS (See Exhibits 14 and 14A)

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 Mayen 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.

Euro Area - Austria,  Belgium, Finland, France, Germany,
Ireland,  Italy, Luxembourg,  Netherlands, Portugal, Spain.
 
European Free Trade Association - Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway, 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,  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 7 and 8).  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 6).  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 15 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 agricultural
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  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 15.

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 16.  This product and
commodity-based measure of advanced technology differs from
broader NAICS 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 sampling
errors; but they are subject to several types of nonsampling
errors.  The most significant of these include reporting errors,
undocumented shipments, timeliness and data capture errors,  
and errors in the estimation of low-valued transactions.  

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 includes gold that
     leaves the customs territory.

     Some smaller adjustments are also made to exports:
     Deductions for repairs of goods, developed 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 developed  motion picture
     film.  Additions for imported electricity from Mexico,
     conversion of vessels for commercial use, and repairs to U.S.
     vessels abroad, and valuation of prepackaged software imports
     at market value.

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.  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 of 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 
     rentals with crew.
     
     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 for the current month and a revised estimate for the
immediately preceding month are released. After a revised month is
released, no further changes are made to that month until the
quarterly international transactions accounts are released; the
quarterly international transactions accounts, which are based on
more complete source data, are released in March, June, September
and December.  To align the monthly estimated with quarterly
international transactions accounts, the monthly releases in March,
June, September, and December contain revised estimates for the
previous six months.  (The monthly release in March also contains
revisions for all months of the previous year in order to align the
seasonally adjusted monthly estimates with the annual totals published
in the quarterly international transactions release in March.)  Annual
revisions to the months and quarters, which reflect the incorporation
of updated source data and changes in estimating methodologies, are
made in June.

Quarterly and annual estimates of services are included as part
of the U.S. international transaction  accounts, published
in the April, July,  October, and January issues of the Survey of
Current Business.  The next release of the U.S. international 
transactions accounts is scheduled for December 12, 2001. 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. International 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 are obtainable from:
Foreign Trade Division, Bureau of the Census Washington, D.C. 
20233

Additional data and information on services are 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 2000:  12-19-00, 01-19-01, 02-21-01, 03-20-01, 04-18-01,
05-18-01, 06-21-01, 07-19-01, 08-17-01, 09-19-01, 10-19-01, 11-20-01,
12-19-01, 01-18-02, 02-21-02

SOURCE: Report FT900 (CB-01-196), Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade
        Division, October 2001.  For more information, contact Haydn R. 
        Mearkle (301-457-2246) or Nick Orsini (301-457-2311), Foreign 
        Trade Division.           


                         
                                 


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