                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 March 2007, these shipments totaled $112.7 million.       
     U.S. export coverage also excludes certain Canadian postal      
     shipments.  For March 2007, these shipments totaled 
     $23.0 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 March 2007 accounted      
     for 2.0 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 March 2007,  reexports  to  Canada  were       
     $3,005 million.
                                   
4.   Exchange Rate -- Average monthly exchange rates are      
     applied to convert the published data to U.S. currency. For      
     March 2007, the average exchange rate was 1.1682      
     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, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, 
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, 
Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard, Jan Mayen Island, Sweden, Switzerland, 
Turkey, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, 
Uzbekistan, Vatican City.

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

DATE                     Day

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     Thursday

The release in March also contains revisionsfor 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 
June 15, 2007. 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