                INFORMATION ON GOODS AND SERVICES


GOODS

CENSUS BASIS

The Census basis goods data are compiled from the 
documents collected by the U.S. Customs Border and 
Protection 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 Border and Protection 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 
chain-weighted 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. Quarterly revisions are made to the 
chain-weighted dollar series. In the last month of each quarter, 
the current and previous quarter are revised to incorporate the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly revisions and align Census 
and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis' quarterly data. 
Annual revisions for the months are made in June to reflect 
corrections received subsequent to the monthly revisions. 
These revisions are reflected in totals, end-use, SITC, and 
country summary data. The monthly end-use, commodity, and 
country 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 2006, these shipments totaled $191.7 million.       
     U.S. export coverage also excludes certain Canadian postal      
     shipments.  For October 2006, these shipments totaled      
     $21.2 million. 
                                   
     U.S. import coverage includes shipments of railcars and      
     locomotives from Canada.  Effective with January 2004      
     statistics, Canada excludes these shipments from its goods      
     exports to the United States, therefore creating coverage      
     differences between the two countries for these goods.

2.   Valuation -- Canadian imports are valued at the 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 2006 accounted 
     for 2.1 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 2006, reexports to Canada were       
     $2,881 million.
                                   
4.   Exchange Rate -- Average monthly exchange rates are      
     applied to convert the published data to U.S. currency. For      
     October 2006, the average exchange rate was 1.1286      
     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 contain an estimate for late arrivals and 
corrections.  The following month, this estimate is replaced, 
in the press release tables only, with the actual value of late 
receipts and corrections.  This estimate improves the current 
month data for exports to Canada and treats late receipts for 
exports to Canada in a manner more consistent with the 
treatment of late receipts for exports to other countries.
                                   
Nonsampling errors
                                                                      
The goods data are a complete enumeration of documents 
collected by the U.S. Customs Border and Protection and are 
not subject to sampling errors; but they are subject to several 
types of nonsampling errors.  Quality assurance procedures are 
performed at every stage of collection, processing and 
tabulation; however the data are still subject to several types 
of nonsampling errors.  The most significant of these include 
reporting errors, undocumented shipments, timeliness, data 
capture errors, and errors in the estimation of low-valued 
transactions.  

Reporting Errors: Reporting errors are mistakes or omissions 
made by importers, exporters or their agents in their import 
or export declarations.  Most errors involve missing or invalid 
commodity classification codes and missing or incorrect quantities 
or shipping weights.  They have a negligible effect on import, 
export and balance of trade statistics.  However, they can affect 
the detailed commodity statistics.
                                   
Undocumented Shipments: Federal regulations require importers, 
exporters or their agents to report all merchandise shipments 
above established exemption levels.  The U.S. Census Bureau has 
determined that not all required documents are filed, particularly 
for exports.  Timeliness and Data Capture Errors: The U.S. Census 
Bureau captures import and export information from administrative 
documents and through various automated collection programs.  
Documents may be lost, and data may be incorrectly keyed, coded 
or recorded.  Transactions may be included in a subsequent month's 
statistics if received late.

Low-valued Transactions: The total values of transactions valued 
as much as or below $2,500 for exports and $2,000 ($250 for certain 
quota items) for imports are estimated for each country, using 
factors based on the ratios of low-valued shipments to individual 
country totals for past periods.  The U.S. Census Bureau recommends 
that data users incorporate this information into their analyses, 
as nonsampling errors could impact the conclusion drawn from 
the results.  For a detailed discussion of errors affecting the 
goods data, see "U.S. Merchandise Trade Statistics: A Quality Profile" 
available on the INTERNET at 
www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aip/index.html#infopapers or from 
the Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Census Bureau. 

AREA GROUPINGS (See Exhibits 14 and 14A)

North America - Canada, Mexico

Europe - Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbijan, 
Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, 
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, 
Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Gibralter, Greece, 
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Gozo, 
Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, 
Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia and 
Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard, 
Jan Mayen Island, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Tajikistan, 
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City.

European Union  - Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, 
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, 
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,  
Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, 
Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
     
Euro Area - Austria,  Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, 
Greece, Ireland,  Italy, Luxembourg,  Netherlands, Portugal, 
Spain.
 
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.

Africa - Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, British Indian 
Ocean Territories, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, 
Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), 
Congo (Kinshasa), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, 
Ethiopia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Gabon, Gambia, 
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, 
Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, 
Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, 
Rwanda, St. Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, 
Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, 
Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe.  

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 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, from the 
U.S. Census  Bureau, for use in the Balance of Payments and 
the National Income and Product Accounts.  

The seasonal adjustment procedure is based on a model that 
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).  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 chained-dollar 
basis (2000 base year) are presented in Exhibits 10 and 11.  
This adjustment for price change is done using the Fisher 
chain-weighted methodology.  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 U.S. 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; manufactured goods classified 
chiefly by material; machinery and transport equipment; 
miscellaneous manufactured articles; 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 Exhibits 16 and 16A.  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.
     
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS (BOP) BASIS
 
Goods on a Census basis are adjusted by the U.S. 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 U.S. 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, 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 include gold that enters the customs 
     territory.
     
     Imports by U.S. military agencies - This deduction of U.S.      
     military sales contracts is made because the U.S. 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, 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 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 services; 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, and repair of equipment; and other services, including 
medical services and film and tape rentals.
     
       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 more complete source data become 
available in March, June, September, and December.  
The releases in March, June, September, and  December 
contain revised data for the previous six 
                           MONTHLY RELEASE
                               SCHEDULE
DATE                         Day   
Oct12-12-06     Tuesday
Nov. . . . .01-10-07     Wednesday
Dec. . . . .02-13-07     Tuesday
                                   
Jan. . . . .03-09-07     Friday
Feb. . . . .04-13-07     Friday
Mar. . . . .05-10-07     Thursday
Apr. . . . .06-08-07     Friday
May. . . . .07-12-07     Thursday
Jun. . . . .08-14-07     Tuesday
Jul. . . . .09-11-07     Tuesday
Aug. . . . .10-11-07     Thursday
Sep. . . . .11-09-07     Friday
Oct. . . . .12-12-07     Wednesday
Nov. . . . .01-11-08     Friday
Dec. . . . .02-14-08     Thursdaymonths.  
The release in March also contains revisions for all months 
of the previous year in order to align the seasonally adjusted 
monthly data with annual totals.  The release in June contains 
annual revisions, which reflect 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, 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 18, 2006. The Survey is available 
from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing 
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

ELECTRONIC AVAILABILITY

The FT-900 and supplement are available on the 
following:

INTERNET  The U.S. International Trade in Goods and 
Services reports are available at:  www.census.gov/ft900 
or www.bea.gov/bea/di/home/trade.htm.

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, U.S. Census Bureau,  
Washington, D.C.  20233

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