U.S. Census Bureau News

U.S. Department of Commerce  Washington, D.C. 20230


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8:30 A.M. EDT Thursday, April 12, 2012

For information contact:  						CB12-61		
Phone: (301) 763-3629,   	Email: ftd.profile.list@census.gov
Jeffrey McHugh, Joseph DeCampo, Ryan Coleman or Sherri Ewing


A Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies, 
2009 - 2010



The U.S. Census Bureau, Department of 
Commerce, releases the report, A Profile of U.S. 
Importing and Exporting Companies, 2009 - 2010.    
It provides information on identified companies 
and their known export or import value.  Identified 
U.S. companies are defined as companies that can 
be linked to import or export transactions.  The 
known value is the value of export or import 
transactions linked to specific companies.  The 
increases in known export and import values 
correspond with the overall increase of trade in 
2010; total export value rose by 21.0 percent and 
total import value increased by 22.7 percent. The 
number of identified exporters increased by 6.0 
percent in 2010 and the known export value 
increased by 21.0 percent compared to 2009.  The 
number of identified importers increased by 1.0 
percent in 2010 and the known import value 
increased by 24.4 percent.

In 2010 the identified U.S. exporters accounted for 
$1,138 billion in exports or 89.0 percent of the 
total value of exported goods ($1,278 billion). In 
2010 the number of identified U.S. exporters was 
293.1 thousand, up from the revised 2009 estimate 
of 276.6 thousand.  In 2009, the known value was 
revised to $940 billion.

In 2010 identified U.S. importers accounted for 
$1,680 billion in imports or 87.8 percent of the 
total value of imported goods ($1,913 billion).  
The number of identified U.S. importers was
181.6 thousand, up from 179.8 thousand in 2009.
Table 1: Distribution of Exports and Imports by Identified and Unidentified Companies
(Value in millions of dollars.  Details may not sum to total due to rounding.)

				2010 Value	% of 2010 Value		2009 Value	% of 2009 Value	
Total exports			1,278,263	100.0 			1,056,043	100.0 
Low-value estimates		33,079  	2.6 			23,911		2.3 
US & foreign governments	132  		<0.1 			1,462		0.1 
Revisions			0  		0.0			-890		<-0.1
Identified exporters* 
(known value)			1,137,635	89.0			940,410		89.1 
Exported merchandise in
   both 2009 and 2010		1,105,203	86.5 			915,260		86.7
Exported merchandise in
   only 2009 or only 2010 	32,432		2.5 			25,150		2.4
Unidentified exports		107,417 	8.4 			91,150		8.6
Total Imports			1,913,160	100.0			1,559,625	100.0
Low-value estimates		13,727		0.7			16,963		1.1
Articles exported and returned, 
not advanced or improved in 
condition			38,504		2.0			34,474		2.2
Revisions			0		0.0			1,749		0.1
Identified importers* 
(known value)			1,679,522	87.8			1,350,406	86.6
Imported merchandise in
   both 2009 and 2010		1,625,909	85.0			1,304,616	83.6
Imported merchandise in
   only 2009 or only 2010	53,613		2.8			45,790		2.9
Unidentified imports /1		181,407		9.5			156,033		10.0
*Number of Identified Companies

		2010		2009		Both Years	2010 Only	2009 Only
Exporters	293,131		276,643		188,357		104,774		88,286
Importers	181,648		179,831		127,937		53,711		51,894
* Note: Percentages may not add up to 100.0 percent due to rounding
/1 Includes Canadian electricity and natural gas imports


Because not all shipments can be linked to specific 
companies, the number of exporters and importers 
may be understated. The total export value that 
could not be linked to specific companies totaled 
11.0 percent in 2010 and 10.9 percent in 2009.  
This portion of the total export value includes 
exports by individuals, governments, low-value 
estimates, and information filed with missing, 
unknown, or incomplete company identifiers.  The 
total import value that could not be linked to 
specific companies totaled 12.2 percent in 2010 
and 13.3 percent in 2009.  This portion of the total 
import value includes imports by individuals, 
articles exported and returned (the condition was 
not advanced), low-value estimates, electricity and 
natural gas imports from Canada, and information 
filed with missing, unknown, or incomplete 
company identifiers.  Export and import values are 
taken from the detailed transactions used to 
compile the official U.S. trade statistics. Company 
size and type information are taken from 
administrative records and census or survey data 
on file with the Census Bureau.

The overall findings for 2010 and 2009 are shown 
in Table 1, which shows the proportion of exports 
and imports that were successfully matched to 
companies in the 2009 and 2010 Business 
Registers.  For exports, the 2009 figures in this 
report are revised from data released in the 2008-
2009 exporter profile.  The revisions are based on 
the ability to match additional export records by 
company name.  Unlike exports, all import records 
have unique numeric importer identifiers, so 
additional matching by the company name is not 
performed.  Therefore no revisions are made to 
imports.  Please refer to the Methodology section 
of the Technical Documentation at the end of this 
report.  

Who Exports and Imports?

During 2010, 9.1 percent (26.8 thousand) of all 
identified exporters were multiple location 
companies; these companies accounted for 74.6 
percent of the known export value (Exhibit 1a).  In 
contrast, 266.4 thousand single location companies 
(making up 90.9 percent of the exporting 
companies) contributed 25.4 percent of the known 
export value.  

In 2010, 9.9 percent of all identified importers 
were multiple location companies; these 
companies accounted for 76.2 percent of the 
known import value (Exhibit 1d).  Single location 
companies, making up 90.1 percent of the 
importing companies, contributed 23.8 percent of 
the known import value.  

Trade with related parties accounted for 35.6 
percent of the known export value by multiple 
location companies compared to 16.7 percent by 
single location companies (Exhibit 3a). 

Exhibit 1a shows that manufacturers accounted for 
the largest portion of the 2010 known value, 60.0 
percent, with 24.6 percent of the identified 
exporters.  Other companies and wholesalers 
accounted for 15.8 percent and 23.6 percent of the 
known export value, respectively; unclassified 
exporters accounted for the remainder.

For imports, manufacturers accounted for the 
largest portion of 2010 known value, 45.2 percent 
with 19.6 percent of the known importers.  Other 
companies and wholesalers accounted for 21.5 
percent and 32.8 percent of the known import 
value (Exhibit 1d), respectively; unclassified 
companies accounted for the remainder of the 
known value.  

The other companies category includes 
manufacturers of prepackaged software and books; 
brokers or freight forwarders and other 
transportation and warehousing firms, which often 
act as agents for the true exporter; business, 
engineering, and management services; oil and gas 
extraction companies; coal mining companies; and 
communication services companies. 

The number of multiple location exporting 
companies fell by 0.2 percent in 2010.  All 
company types increased; manufacturers increased 
by 2.4 percent, wholesalers by 4.3 percent, other 
companies by 9.6 percent, and unclassified 
companies by 8.4 percent (Exhibit 1c).

 
The number of multiple location importing 
companies decreased by 1.8 percent in 2010.  The 
number of manufacturers increased 1.0 percent, 
wholesalers by less than 0.1 percent, other 
companies by 2.2 percent, and unclassified 
companies by 5.1 percent (Exhibit 1f).

The 2010 Export and Import Concentration by Top 
Companies bar chart shows the concentration by 
percent of known export and import values.  Of the 
known export value for 2010, 59.6 percent was 
accounted for by the top 500 companies.  The top 
250 companies accounted for half of the known 
export value.  For imports, 68.2 percent of the 
known value was accounted for by the top 500 
companies and 60.3 percent of the total known 
import value was accounted for by the top 250 
importers.

For exports, the top 100 manufacturers contributed 
just under one-third of the total known export 
value and over one-half of all exports by 
manufacturers (Exhibit 2a). For imports, the top 
100 manufacturers contributed 31.4 percent of the 
total known import value and 69.6 of all imports 
by manufacturers (Exhibit 2c).

Among the company types, the top 50 
manufacturers accounted for 42.6 percent of the 
known export value of the manufacturing sector. 
The top 50 companies represented 36.4 percent of 
the known export value for wholesalers and 37.1 
percent of the known value for other companies 
(Exhibit 2a).

For imports, the top 50 importing manufacturers 
accounted for 60.4 percent of the known value of 
this sector. The top 50 companies represented 37.3 
percent of the known import value for wholesalers 
and about 62.6 percent of the known value for 
other companies (Exhibit 2c).

The 2010 Number of Companies that Export or 
Import Venn diagram shows the number of 
identified companies with both exports and 
imports.  During 2010, 80,640 companies both 
exported and imported goods, 212,491 companies 
only exported goods, and 101,008 companies only 
imported goods.  The companies that both 
exported and imported in 2010 accounted for 85.1 
percent of the known export value and 94.1 
percent of the known import value.  Among 
companies that both imported and exported goods, 
30.5 percent were manufacturers, 47.9 percent 
were wholesalers, and 21.1 percent were other 
(Exhibits 1a, 1d, and 1g).   

Large-Sized Companies 

Large identified companies (those employing 500 
or more workers) were responsible for 66.3 percent 
of the known export value and 68.4 percent of 
known import value. They represented only 2.2 
percent of all identified exporters and 2.8 percent 
of all known importers (Exhibits 1a and 1d).  

Large companies dominated manufacturers 
exports, with 3.3 percent of manufacturing 
exporters (2,376 of 72,171) accounting for 81.4 
percent of manufacturing export value ($556 
billion of $683 billion). Similarly, large 
wholesalers, who comprise 0.7 percent of the 
wholesalers who export, accounted for 38.0 
percent of the value of known exports by 
wholesalers.  Large companies in the other 
category represented 2.9 percent of the identified 
exporters in the other category, and 53.3 percent 
of the known value.  Large manufacturers export 
value to related parties represented 31.5 percent of 
the manufacturers total known export value 
(Exhibit 3a).

Large companies comprised 6.0 percent of 
manufacturing importers (2,145 of 35,603) 
accounting for 86.3 percent of manufacturing 
import value ($654 billion of $759 billion). Large 
wholesalers, who comprise approximately 0.8 
percent of the wholesalers who import, accounted 
for 43.8 percent of the value of known imports by 
wholesalers.  Large companies represented 3.6 
percent of identified importers in the other 
category (Exhibit 1d).  

Large companies accounted for 5.3 percent of 
those that both exported and imported goods in 
2010.  These large companies represented 76.1 
percent of the known export value and 72.3 
percent of the known import value.  (Exhibit 1g). 

Small- and Medium-Sized Companies

Small- and medium-sized companies (those 
employing fewer than 500 workers, including 
number of employees unknown) comprised 97.8 
percent of all identified exporters and 97.2 percent 
of all identified importers.  They account for 33.7 
percent and 31.6 percent of the known export and 
import value, respectively.  This is the first Profile 
to include Exhibits 7a and 7b, which feature 
exports from small and medium-sized companies 
by 3-digit North American Industry Classification 
System (NAICS) code. The following findings 
were extracted from Exhibits 1a, 1d, 1g and 7a:

*	96.7 percent of manufacturing exporters were 
small- or medium-sized companies; however 
they contributed just 18.6 percent of the 
sector's $683 billion in exports.  94.0 percent 
of manufacturing importers were small- or 
medium-sized; they accounted for 13.7 percent 
of the sectors $759 billion in imports.

*	99.3 percent of exporting wholesalers were 
small- or medium-sized companies; they 
accounted for 62.0 percent of the sectors $268 
billion in exports. 99.2 percent of wholesaler 
importers were small- or medium-sized; they 
contributed 56.2 percent of the sectors $551 
billion in imports.
	
*	97.1 percent of other companies with 
exports were small- or medium-sized 
companies.  96.4 percent of importing other 
companies were small- or medium-sized.

*	Among companies that both exported and 
imported in 2010, small- or medium-sized 
companies accounted for 94.7 percent of such 
companies, accounting for 23.9 percent of the 
known export value and 27.7 percent of the 
known import value.

*	Among 3-digit NAICS for wholesale 
industries, Wholesale Electronic Markets and 
Agents and Brokers (NAICS 425) 
experienced the largest percent increase in 
export value by small- and medium-sized 
companies from 2009 to 2010 at 37.3 percent.  
For 3-digit manufacturing industry NAICS, 
Petroleum & Coal Products Manufacturing 
(NAICS 324) saw the largest percent increase 
in export value by small- and medium-sized 
companies at 267.9 percent. 

	Export and Import Markets
	
	The country groups used in the 2010 Profile have 
been revised from those used in earlier Profiles 
(Exhibits 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, and 5h).  Please 
refer to World Area Country Groupings for Exhibit 
5.

	Most identified companies exported to (58.4 
percent) or imported from (60.5 percent) only one 
foreign country.  A small percentage of exporters, 
0.4 percent, shipped to 50 or more countries; these 
companies accounted for 47.8 percent of the 
known export value (Exhibit 4a).  Less than 0.1 
percent of importing companies imported from 50 
or more countries, accounting for 19.0 percent of 
the known import value (Exhibit 4c).
	 
	In 2010, 81.8 percent of all exporting companies 
exported to at least one of the top 25 U.S. trading 
partners.  The largest number of identified 
companies exported to Canada, followed by 
Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and China 
(Exhibit 5a).  90.0 percent of all importing 
companies imported from at least one of the top 25 
trading partners.  The largest number of identified 
companies imported from China, followed by 
Taiwan, Germany, Italy and India (Exhibit 5d).
	
	U.S. companies that both exported to and imported 
from Canada represented 70.5 percent of known 
export value to Canada in 2010 ($134 billion of 
$190 billion).  Companies exporting to and 
importing from China represented 68.0 percent of 
known import value from China ($234 billion of 
$344 billion).  In 2010, China, Germany, the 
United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico were the top 
5 countries with the largest number of identified 
U.S. companies which both exported to and 
imported from the specific country (Exhibits 5a, 
5d, and 5g).
	Exports and Imports by State
	
	The Census Bureau releases data on exports by 
state based on the origin of movement (OM).  The 
OM data series is based on where the goods began 
their journey to the port of export as reported with 
the electronic export information. Similarly, 
import statistics by state are based on the state of 
destination (SD).  This is the reported state, U.S. 
territory or U.S. possession where the merchandise 
is destined.  Exhibit 6 shows the number of 
companies exporting from and importing to each 
state during 2009 and 2010 based upon these 
definitions.  (Note that the same company can be 
shown as exporting from or importing to multiple 
states.) 
	
*	In 2010, the top five states, based on the 
number of identified exporting companies, 
were California, Florida, New York, Texas, 
and Illinois. Exporters in these five states 
represented 42.2 percent of the total known 
export value.  For importing companies, the 
top five states were California, New York, 
Florida, Texas, and New Jersey.  Importers in 
these states accounted for 47.4 percent of the 
total known import value.
	
*	States/territories recording the largest 
increases in known export value in 2010 were 
Maine (45.5 percent), New Hampshire (44.0 
percent), Mississippi (38.2 percent), Michigan 
(37.3 percent), and Missouri (36.7 percent). 
New Mexico (54.6 percent), Maryland (52.9 
percent), New Hampshire (51.9 percent), 
Michigan (50.9 percent), and Louisiana (41.2 
percent) had the largest increases in known 
import value.

	Comparison of 2009 and 2010 Results
	
	The relative proportions of exports and imports 
accounted for by manufacturers, wholesalers, and 
other companies based upon both number of 
companies and known value remained consistent 
from 2009 to 2010.  Below are a number of 
noteworthy year-to-year changes (Exhibits 1c, 1f, 
5c, and 5f):

*	The known export value increased by 21.0 
percent. The number of identified exporting 
companies increased by 16,488 or 6.0 percent.  
The single location companies increased by 
16,553 and the multiple location companies 
decreased by just 65.

*	The known import value rose by 24.4 percent.  
The number of identified importing companies 
increased by 1,817 or just over 1 percent.  The 
single location companies increased by 2,150 
and the multiple location companies decreased 
by 333.

*	The number of small- and medium-sized 
importing companies increased by 1.2 percent 
from 174.6 thousand in 2009 to 176.6 
thousand in 2010, while the number of large 
companies decreased by 3.9 percent from 
5,219 to 5,013.

*	The number of exporting wholesalers rose by 
4.3 percent from 93.8 thousand in 2009 to 97.9 
thousand in 2010.  Additionally, the number of 
exporting manufacturers increased by 2.4 
percent from 70.5 thousand in 2009 to 72.2 
thousand in 2010.

*	The number of importing wholesalers 
remained almost unchanged from 82,045 in 
2009 to 82,053 in 2010.  Additionally, the 
number of importing manufacturers increased 
only slightly by just over 1 percent from 35.2 
thousand in 2009 to 35.6 thousand in 2010.

*	All but one of the top 25 U.S. export trading 
partners saw increases in the number of 
identified exporting companies between 2009 
and 2010. Among the top 25 U.S. export 
trading partners, Brazil (12.1 percent), Chile 
(11.6 percent), Australia (11.3 percent), and 
Columbia (10.5 percent) showed the largest 
percentage increases in the number of 
identified exporting companies.  Venezuela 
(-2.5 percent) was the only country in the top 
25 U.S. export trading partners to see a 
decrease in the number of export trading 
partners. 

*	Among the top 25 U.S. import trading 
partners, Saudi Arabia (36.0 percent), Nigeria 
(22.7 percent), Ireland (4.9 percent), China 
(4.2 percent), and the Netherlands (3.9 
percent) showed the largest percentage 
increases in the number of identified importing 
companies.

Some portion of these changes may reflect changes 
in the match rate rather than an actual change in 
the number of companies.  During the process of 
identifying individual companies, it was not 
possible to investigate every unmatched case.  
Priority was given to identifying unmatched 
companies having high values of trade.  As a 
result, the information on small importers and 
exporters is most likely understated.  Also, users 
should not assume that the unidentified companies 
reflected the same distribution of company types 
and sizes as the identified (known) exporters and 
importers.  Comparisons between the number of 
companies importing and exporting in given 
categories or different years might be somewhat 
misleading due to differences in the percent of 
value we were able to match to specific 
companies.  



NOTICE

Effective with this release, the U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division has implemented the following 
changes:

New exhibits

*	Exhibit 7a - 2010 Exports by 3-Digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 
for Small and Medium Sized Companies, and 

*	Exhibit 7b - 2009 Exports by 3-Digit NAICS code for Small and Medium Sized Companies. 


	Copies of the importer and exporter profile are available by calling (301)763-2311 or at 
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aip/index.html#profile.



	TABLE OF CONTENTS
	
	
	Exhibit 1a.	2010 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size	11
	
	Exhibit 1b.	2009 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size	13
	
	Exhibit 1c.	Percent Difference Between the 2009 and 2010 Export Results	15
	
	Exhibit 1d.	2010 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size	17
	
	Exhibit 1e.	2009 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size	19
	
	Exhibit 1f.	Percent Difference Between the 2009 and 2010 Import Results	21
	
	Exhibit 1g.	2010 Exports and Imports by Company Type and Employment Size for 
		Companies that both Export and Import	23
	
	Exhibit 1h.	2009 Exports and Imports by Company Type and Employment Size for 
		Companies that both Export and Import	25
	
	Exhibit 2a.	Top Companies Share of the 2010 Export Market by Company Type	27
	
	Exhibit 2b.	Top Companies Share of the 2009 Export Market by Company Type	28
	
	Exhibit 2c.	Top Companies Share of the 2010 Import Market by Company Type	29
	
	Exhibit 2d.	Top Companies Share of the 2009 Import Market by Company Type	30
	
	Exhibit 3a.	2010 Exports to Related Parties by Company Type and Employment Size	31
	
	Exhibit 3b.	2009 Exports to Related Parties by Company Type and Employment Size	33
	
	Exhibit 4a.	2010 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries	35
	
	Exhibit 4b.	2009 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries	36
	
	Exhibit 4c.	2010 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries	37
	
	Exhibit 4d.	2009 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries	38
	
	Exhibit 5a.	2010 Exports by Company Employment Size to World Areas and Selected Countries	39
	
	Exhibit 5b.	2009 Exports by Company Employment Size to World Areas and Selected Countries	41
	
	Exhibit 5c.	Percent Difference Between 2009 and 2010 Exports to World Areas and Selected 
		Countries 	43
	
	Exhibit 5d.	2010 Imports by Company Employment Size from World Areas and Selected Countries	44
	
	Exhibit 5e.	2009 Imports by Company Employment Size from World Areas and Selected Countries	46
	
	Exhibit 5f.	Percent Difference Between 2009 and 2010 Exports to World Areas and Selected 
		Countries 	48
	
	Exhibit 5g.	2010 Exports and Imports for Selected Countries and World Areas by Employment Size,
		Only for Companies that both Imported from and Exported to Listed Countries and
		World Areas 	49
	
	Exhibit 5h.	2009 Exports and Imports for Selected Countries and World Areas by Employment Size,
		Only for Companies that both Imported from and Exported to Listed Countries and
		World Areas	51
	
	Exhibit 6a.	2010 Exports by State of the Origin of Movement, Number of Exporting Companies, 
		Value, and Percent Difference Between the 2009 and 2010 Results	53
	
	Exhibit 6b.	2009 Exports by State of the Origin of Movement, Number of Exporting Companies, 
		and Value	54
	
	Exhibit 6c.	2010 Imports by State of Destination, Number of Importing Companies, Value,
		and Percent Difference Between the 2009 and 2010 Results	55
	
	Exhibit 6d.	2009 Imports by State of Destination, Number of Importing Companies, and Value 	56
	
	Exhibit 7a.	2010 Exports by 3-Digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 
		for Small and Medium Sized Companies	57
	
	Exhibit 7b.	2009 Exports by 3-Digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 
		for Small and Medium Sized Companies	59
	
	
	
	
	Technical Documentation
	
	This section contains critical information on sources and reliability of data, as well as definitions of terms and 
methodological procedures that users should consider before attempting to interpret or analyze the statistical 
data presented in this report.  Failure to do so may affect the result.  
	
	

NOTE: All percentages given for company size are based on known value.


