INFORMATION ON GOODS AND SERVICES
 


GOODS (CENSUS BASIS)
Data for goods on a Census basis are compiled from the 
documents collected by the U.S. Customs and Border 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 and Border 
Protection appraised value of merchandisegenerally, 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.
Revision policy for goods on a Census basis:  Monthly data 
include actual month's transactions as well as a small number of 
transactions for previous months.  Each month, the U.S. Census 
Bureau revises the aggregate seasonally adjusted (current and 
real chained-dollar) and unadjusted export, import, and trade 
balance figures, as well as the end-use totals for the prior month.  
For December and January statistical month releases, each prior 
month of the most recent full year is revised in order to align the 
seasonally adjusted monthly data with annual totals.  Country 
detail data and commodity detail data, based on the Standard 
International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 4 and the 
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), are 
not revised monthly.  The timing adjustment shown in Exhibit 
14 is the difference between monthly data as originally reported 
and as recompiled.  In addition, for March, June, September, 
and December statistical month releases, revisions are made to 
the real chained-dollar series presented in Exhibits 10 and 11: 
the previous five months are revised to incorporate the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics revisions to price indexes, which are used to 
produce the real chained-dollar series and to align Census data 
with data published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis 
(BEA) in the national income and product accounts (NIPAs).  
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, commodity, and 
country summary data.  The monthly end-use, commodity, and 
country and area data presented in Exhibits 6-18 in this release 
are on a Census basis.

U.S./CANADA DATA EXCHANGE AND 
SUBSTITUTION
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 August 2013, these shipments totaled $118.1 million.  
U.S. export coverage also excludes U.S. postal shipments to 
Canada.  For August 2013, these shipments totaled $20.4 
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 than the Canadian import value.  Canada 
requires inland freight to be reported separately from the 
value of the goods.  Combining the inland freight and the 
Canadian reported import value provides a consistent 
valuation for all U.S. exports.  Inland freight charges for 
August 2013 accounted for 2.3 percent of the value of U.S. 
exports to Canada.
3.	Reexports - Unlike Canadian imports, which are based on 
country of origin, U.S. exports include reexports of foreign 
goods.  Therefore, the aggregate U.S. export figure is 
slightly larger than the Canadian import figure.  For August 
2013, reexports to Canada were $4,119.3 million.
4.	Exchange Rate - Average monthly exchange rates are 
applied to convert the published data to U.S. currency.  For 
August 2013, the average exchange rate was 1.0407 
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 news release exhibits 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 that is 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 and Border Protection and are not 
subject to sampling 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 
aggregate 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 months 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 
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, Azerbaijan, 
Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, 
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, 
Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, 
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, 
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, 
Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, 
Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, 
Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard-Jan Mayen Island, Sweden, 
Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United 
Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City.
European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, 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, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, 
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, 
Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
Pacific Rim: Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, 
Japan, Korea, Macau, 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, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican 
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands (Islas 
Malvinas), French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, 
Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, 
Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Sint 
Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the 
Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos 
Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela.
OPEC: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, 
Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, British Indian Ocean 
Territories, Burkina Faso, 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, South 
Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, 
Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe.


ADJUSTMENTS FOR SEASONAL AND TRADING-DAY 
VARIATIONS
Goods are initially classified under the Harmonized Commodity 
Description and Coding System (Harmonized System), 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 
trading-day adjusted data.  These adjusted data are then summed 
to the six end-use aggregates for publication (see Exhibit 6).  
These data are provided to BEA, from the U.S. Census Bureau, 
for use in the NIPAs and in the international transactions 
accounts (balance of payments 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 
(2009 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 NIPAs by BEA.
PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES
Goods data appearing in Exhibit 15 are classified in terms of the 
SITC Revision 4, with the exception of agricultural and 
manufactured goods.  Agricultural goods are defined by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA); they consist of non-marine 
food products and other products of agriculture that have not 
passed through complex processes of manufacture.  
Manufactured goods conform to the NAICS; they consist of 
goods that have been mechanically, physically, or chemically 
transformed.  USDA agricultural goods and NAICS 
manufactured goods are not mutually exclusive categories.
Reexports are foreign merchandise entering the country as 
imports and then exported 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
About 500 of some 22,000 Harmonized System 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 that appears in Exhibits 16 and 16a.  This 
product- and commodity-based measure of advanced technology 
differs from broader NAICS-based measures, which include all 
goods produced by a particular industry group, regardless of the 
level of technology embodied in the goods.
GOODS (BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BASIS)
Goods on a Census basis are adjusted by BEA to a balance of 
payments basis to align the data with the concepts and 
definitions used to prepare the international and national 
economic accounts.  These adjustments, which are applied 
separately to exports and imports, are necessary to supplement 
coverage of the Census data, to eliminate duplication of 
transactions recorded elsewhere in the international accounts, 
and to value transactions at market prices.  They include both 
additions to and deductions from goods on a Census basis and 
are presented in this release as Net Adjustments.  Adjustments 
that exhibit significant seasonal patterns are seasonally adjusted.  
BEA also publishes more detailed quarterly and annual statistics 
for Net Adjustments in a standard table of the U.S. international 
transactions accounts, Table 2. U.S. Trade in Goods.  See the 
BEA Web site at www.bea.gov/iTable/index_ita.cfm or the 
January, April, July, and October issues of the Survey of Current 
Business.
The export adjustments include:
Exports under U.S. military sales contracts - This 
adjustment reflects the net amount of two separate 
adjustments.  BEA first deducts goods identified in the 
Census data as exports under the U.S. Foreign Military 
Sales program.  BEA then adds primary source data for 
these exports, which are reported to BEA by the U.S. 
Department of Defense.
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 U.S. customs territory.
Goods procured in U.S. ports by foreign carriers - This 
addition is made for foreign air and ocean carriers fuel 
purchases in U.S. ports.
Low-value transactions - This addition is made to phase in 
a revised Census Bureau methodology for low-value goods 
for statistics prior to 2010.  The revised Census 
methodology was implemented for goods on a Census basis 
beginning with statistics for 2010.
    
    
    Other adjustments to exports include:
Deductions for equipment repairs (parts and labor), 
developed motion picture film, and military grant-aid.  
Additions for sales of fish caught in U.S. territorial waters, 
exports of electricity to Mexico, private gift parcels, vessels 
and oil rigs for which ownership changes, and valuation of 
software exports at market value.

The import adjustments include:
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 U.S. 
customs territory.
Goods procured in foreign ports by U.S. carriers - This 
addition is made for U.S. air and ocean carriers fuel 
purchases in foreign ports.
Imports by U.S. military agencies - This addition is made 
for purchases of goods abroad by U.S. military agencies, 
which are reported to BEA by the U.S. Department of 
Defense.  The Census data only include imports of goods 
by U.S. military agencies that enter the U.S. customs 
territory.
Inland freight in Canada and Mexico - This addition is 
made for inland freight in Canada and Mexico.  Imports of 
goods from all countries should be valued at the customs 
valuethe value at the foreign port of export including 
inland freight charges.  For imports from Canada and 
Mexico, this should be the cost of the goods at the U.S. 
border.  However, the customs value for imports for certain 
Canadian and Mexican goods is the point of origin in 
Canada or Mexico.  BEA makes an addition for the inland 
freight charges of transporting these goods to the U.S. 
border to make the value comparable to the customs value 
reported for imports from other countries.
Low-value transactions - This addition is made to phase in 
a revised Census Bureau methodology for low-value goods 
for statistics prior to 2010.  The revised Census 
methodology was implemented for goods on a Census basis 
beginning with statistics for 2010.
    Other adjustments to imports include:
Deductions for equipment repairs (parts and labor), repairs 
to U.S. vessels abroad, and developed motion picture film.  
Additions for non-reported imports of locomotives and 
railcars, imports of electricity from Mexico, conversion of 
vessels for commercial use, and valuation of software 
imports at market value.

SERVICES
The services statistics cover 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 these 
installations are considered to be part of the U.S. economy.
Services statistics are based on quarterly, annual, and 
benchmark surveys and information obtained from monthly 
government and industry reports.  Services are seasonally 
adjusted when statistically significant seasonal patterns are 
present.  No monthly country or area detail is available due to 
the lack of adequate source data.
Services are shown in seven broad categories.  The types of 
services for exports and imports are the same for six of the 
categories.  For the seventh, the export category is transfers 
under U.S. military sales contracts and the import 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 one year in a country of which the person is not a 
resident.  Includes cruise fares and expenditures for food, 
lodging, recreation, gifts, and other items incidental to a 
foreign visit.
Passenger fares - Fares paid by residents of one country to 
transportation carriers 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.  Excludes cruise fares, 
which are included in travel.
Other transportation - Transactions include freight 
charges for the transportation of goods to and from the 
United States, operating expenses that transportation 
companies incur in foreign ports, space transport services, 
postal services, and payments for vessel charter and aircraft 
leases with crew.  Excludes air and ocean carriers fuel 
purchases in foreign ports, which are included in exports 
and imports of goods on a balance of payments (BOP) 
basis.



Royalties and license fees - Transactions for the rights to 
use, the rights to reproduce or distribute, and the outright 
sale or purchase of intellectual property such as patents, 
techniques, processes, formulas, designs, know-how, 
trademarks, copyrights, franchises, and manufacturing 
rights.  The term "royalties" generally refers to payments 
for the use of copyrights or trademarks; the term "license 
fees" generally refers to payments for the use of patents or 
industrial processes.  Includes fees for the rights to 
distribute film and television recordings.  
Other private services - Transactions consist of education 
services; financial services (includes fees and commissions 
and excludes investment income); insurance services; 
telecommunications services (includes transmission 
services and value-added services); business, professional, 
and technical services (includes 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 services; architectural 
and engineering services; mining services; industrial 
engineering services; installation, maintenance, and repair 
of equipment; and medical services); and other services.  
Transfers under U.S. military sales contracts (Exports 
only) - Transactions include exports of services, such as 
training services and repair services, provided by U.S. 
government military agencies through grants and the U.S. 
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.  Excludes exports 
of goods under the FMS program, which are included in 
exports of goods on a BOP basis.
Direct defense expenditures (Imports only) - Transactions 
include expenditures by U.S. military agencies abroad, 
including expenditures by U.S. personnel, payments of 
wages to foreign residents, construction expenditures, and 
payments for foreign contractual services.  Excludes 
purchases of goods abroad, which are included in imports 
of goods on a BOP basis.
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.  
Some goods transactions are also included.
MONTHLY RELEASE SCHEDULE
Month
Date
Day



Jan
03-07-13
Thursday

Feb
04-05-13
Friday

Mar
05-02-13
Thursday

Apr
06-04-13
Tuesday

May
07-03-13
Wednesday

Jun
08-06-13
Tuesday

Jul
09-04-13
Wednesday

Aug
10-24-13
Thursday

Sep
11-14-13
Thursday

Oct
12-04-13
Wednesday






Revision policy for goods on a balance of payments basis 
and for services: Each month, a preliminary estimate for the 
current month and a revised estimate for the immediately 
preceding month are released.  After the initial revision, no 
further revisions are made to a month until more complete 
source data become available in March, June, September, and 



December.  The releases in these months contain revised 
estimates for the previous six months.  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 also contains annual revisions, which 
reflect newly available and revised source data, changes in 
definitions and classifications, and changes in estimation 
methods.  In addition, the release in February contains revisions 
to goods for January through November of the most recent year 
in order to align the seasonally adjusted monthly data with 
annual totals.

U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS ACCOUNTS
Quarterly and annual estimates of goods on a balance of 
payments basis and of services are included in the U.S. 
international transactions accounts, which are published in news 
releases in March, June, September, and December and in the 
Survey of Current Business in the January, April, July, and 
October issues.  The next release of the international 
transactions accounts is scheduled for December 17, 2013.  The 
Survey of Current Business is available online at 
www.bea.gov/scb/index.htm.

DATA AVAILABILITY

The U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services news 
release (FT-900) and the FT-900 Supplement are available at the 
following:

www.census.gov/ft900  

www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/trade/tradnewsrelease.html

