GOODS

CENSUS BASIS

The Census basis goods data 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 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 and 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 January 2010, these shipments totaled $102.7 million.  U.S. export coverage
   also excludes certain Canadian postal shipments.  For January 2010, these shipments
   totaled $19.1 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. Combining the inland freight and the Canadian reported
   import value provides a consistent valuation for all U.S. exports.  Inland freight
   charges for January 2010 accounted for 2.5 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 January 2010, reexports to Canada were
   $2,974.3 million.

4. Exchange Rate -- Average monthly exchange rates are applied to convert the published
   data to U.S. currency. For January 2010, the average exchange rate was 1.0438
   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
and Border 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, 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, 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, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, 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, Ecuador, 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 (2005 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 services category "Transfers Under U.S. Military Sales
   Contracts."  

   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 other 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 and Mexico - An addition is made for inland freight in
   Canada and Mexico.  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 and Mexico, this should be the cost of the goods at the U.S. border.
   However, the customs value for imports for certain Canadian or Mexican goods is
   the point of origin in Canada or Mexico.  The 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 as reported by all other countries.  

   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 services category "Direct Defense Expenditures."
   BEA's source material is more comprehensive, but has no distinction between goods
   and services.

   Locomotives and railcars - An addition is made for imports of certain locomotives
   and railcars that are not reported to U.S. Customs and not included in Census data.
   Estimates based on trade data from other countries are included beginning with January
   2001, when a reporting exclusion began to materially impact the total value of U.S.
   imports of locomotives and railcars.

   Some other 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 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 affiliated and unaffiliated foreign
   residents.  (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 involve 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 and unaffiliated foreign
   residents.  (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 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);
   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 (includes 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.  

   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
the initial revision, 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 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 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 news releases in March, June, September, and
December and in the January, April, July, and October issues of the Survey of Current
Business.  The next release of the international transactions accounts is scheduled for
March 18, 2010.  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.

MONTHLY RELEASE SCHEDULE

Month    Date        Day

Nov      01-12-10    Tuesday
Dec      02-10-10    Wednesday
Jan      03-11-10    Thursday
Feb      04-13-10    Tuesday
Mar      05-12-10    Wednesday
Apr      06-10-10    Thursday
May      07-13-10    Tuesday
Jun      08-11-10    Wednesday
Jul      09-09-10    Thursday
Aug      10-14-10    Thursday
Sep      11-10-10    Wednesday
Oct      12-10-10    Friday

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/newsreleases/international/trade/tradnewsrelease.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

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