                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 July 2007, these shipments totaled $186.3 million.       
     U.S. export coverage also excludes certain Canadian postal      
     shipments.  For July 2007, these shipments totaled $22.2      
     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 July 2007 accounted for      
     2.3 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 July 2007,  reexports  to  Canada  were  $2,635      
     million.
                                   
4.   Exchange Rate -- Average monthly exchange rates are      
     applied to convert the published data to U.S. currency. For      
     July 2007, the average exchange rate was 1.0502 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 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 September 14, 2007.
The Survey is available from the Superintendent of Documents, 
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, or 
online at www.bea.gov/scb/index.htm.

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