FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8:30 A.M. EDT THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012
                                                                                 CB12-59
                                                                                 BEA12-13
                                                                                 FT-900 (12-02)

                                     U.S. Census Bureau
                              U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
                                            NEWS
                     U.S. Department of Commerce * Washington, DC 20230

                       U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES
                                        February 2012


Goods and Services

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of
Commerce, announced today that total February exports of $181.2 billion and imports of $227.2
billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $46.0 billion, down from $52.5 billion in
January, revised.  February exports were $0.2 billion more than January exports of $180.9 billion.
February imports were $6.3 billion less than January imports of $233.4 billion.

In February, the goods deficit decreased $6.0 billion from January to $61.4 billion, and the
services surplus increased $0.5 billion from January to $15.4 billion.  Exports of goods decreased
$0.6 billion to $128.0 billion, and imports of goods decreased $6.5 billion to $189.4 billion.
Exports of services increased $0.8 billion to $53.2 billion, and imports of services increased
$0.2 billion to $37.8 billion.

The goods and services deficit increased $0.6 billion from February 2011 to February 2012.
Exports were up $15.4 billion, or 9.3 percent, and imports were up $16.1 billion, or 7.6 percent.

Goods (Census Basis)

The January to February decrease in exports of goods reflected decreases in automotive vehicles,
parts, and engines ($0.8 billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.5 billion); and industrial
supplies and materials ($0.1 billion).  Increases occurred in other goods ($0.5 billion) and
consumer goods ($0.3 billion).  Capital goods were virtually unchanged.

The January to February decrease in imports of goods reflected decreases in consumer goods
($2.7 billion); industrial supplies and materials ($1.5 billion); automotive vehicles, parts,
and engines ($1.0 billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.6 billion); and capital goods
($0.4 billion).  An increase occurred in other goods ($0.1 billion).

The February 2011 to February 2012 increase in exports of goods reflected increases in capital
goods ($4.3 billion); industrial supplies and materials ($3.3 billion); automotive vehicles,
parts, and engines ($2.0 billion); other goods ($0.9 billion); and consumer goods ($0.9 billion).
A decrease occurred in foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.6 billion).

The February 2011 to February 2012 increase in imports of goods reflected increases in industrial
supplies and materials ($5.9 billion); capital goods ($4.6 billion); automotive vehicles, parts,
and engines ($4.0 billion); other goods ($1.1 billion); and foods, feeds, and beverages
($0.4 billion).  A decrease occurred in consumer goods ($3.3 billion).

Services

Exports of services increased $0.8 billion from January to February.  The increase was mostly
accounted for by increases in travel, other private services (which includes items such as
business, professional, and technical services, insurance services, and financial services),
and royalties and license fees.  Changes in the other categories of services exports were small.

Imports of services increased $0.2 billion from January to February.  The increase was more
than accounted for by increases in travel, other private services, and passenger fares.  A
decrease in other transportation (which includes freight and port services) was partly offsetting.
Changes in the other categories of services imports were small.

The February 2011 to February 2012 increase in exports of services was $4.8 billion.  The largest
increases were in royalties and license fees ($1.7 billion), other private services ($1.2 billion),
and travel ($1.2 billion).  Within other private services, the largest increases were in financial
services and in business, professional, and technical services.

The February 2011 to February 2012 increase in imports of services was $3.5 billion.  The largest
increases were in other private services ($2.1 billion) and travel ($0.6 billion).  Within other
private services, the largest increases were in business, professional, and technical services
and in insurance services.

Goods and Services Moving Average

For the three months ending in February, exports of goods and services averaged $180.1 billion,
while imports of goods and services averaged $229.8 billion, resulting in an average trade deficit
of $49.7 billion.  For the three months ending in January, the average trade deficit was $50.2
billion, reflecting average exports of $178.9 billion and average imports of $229.1 billion.

Selected Not Seasonally Adjusted Goods Details

The February figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong $3.1 ($2.1 for January),
Australia $1.7 ($1.6), Singapore $0.7 ($0.8), and Egypt $0.2 ($0.2).  Deficits were recorded,
in billions of dollars, with China $19.4 ($26.0), Japan $7.0 ($6.2), OPEC $6.4 ($10.0), European
Union $5.9 ($8.5), Mexico $5.8 ($4.2), Germany $3.6 ($4.1), Canada $2.8 ($4.9), Ireland $2.2
($2.3), Venezuela $1.9 ($2.0), Nigeria $0.9 ($1.3), Taiwan $0.8 ($1.3), and Korea $0.4 ($1.4).

Advanced technology products exports were $23.3 billion in February and imports were $29.2 billion,
resulting in a deficit of $5.8 billion.  February exports were $0.9 billion more than the $22.5
billion in January, while February imports were virtually unchanged from January.

Revisions

Census Basis (not seasonally adjusted)

For January, exports of goods were virtually unrevised and imports of goods were revised down
$0.1 billion.  Goods carry-over in February was $0.1 billion (0.1 percent) for exports and $1.1
billion (0.7 percent) for imports.  For January, revised export carry-over was $0.2 billion
(0.2 percent).  For January, revised import carry-over was $0.2 billion (0.1 percent).

Balance of Payments Basis (seasonally adjusted)

For January, exports of goods were virtually unrevised and imports of goods were revised down
$0.2 billion.

For January, exports of services were revised up $0.2 billion and imports of services were revised
up $0.3 billion.  The revisions to both exports and imports of services mostly reflect upward
revisions in travel and passenger fares.


NOTICE

Changes to End-Use Commodity Classification

Effective with the January 2012 statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA) have revised the classification of several end-use commodities.  These changes
were made to achieve a consistent classification between exports and imports and to improve the
grouping of the commodities based on their end-use characteristics.  These changes also reflect
the results of work performed by the World Customs Organization (WCO) as part of its long-term
program to review the nomenclature of the international Harmonized System from which the end-use
commodity classifications are derived.  The last WCO modifications to the Harmonized System were
introduced in March 2007 with the January 2007 statistics.

For both exports and imports, the most significant reclassifications involved various semiconductor
media, such as “smart cards” and flash memory cards, which have been reassigned from consumer
goods and industrial supplies and materials to semiconductors and related devices within capital
goods.  In addition, for imports, electronic book devices and batteries used to power vehicles
have been reassigned from capital goods to consumer goods and automotive vehicles, parts, and
engines, respectively.

Upcoming Revisions to Goods and Services

On June 8, 2012, the U.S. Census Bureau and BEA will release “U.S. International Trade in Goods
and Services: April 2012” and “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual Revision
for 2011.”  With these releases, statistics on trade in goods, on both a Census basis and a balance
of payments (BOP) basis, and statistics on trade in services will be revised beginning with 2009.
The revised statistics on trade in goods will reflect reclassifications of several end-use
commodities (see above), as well as recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments.  The
revised statistics on goods on a BOP basis and on services will also appear in “U.S. International
Transactions: First Quarter 2012” and in the annual revision of the U.S. international transactions
accounts (bea.gov/iTable/index_ita.cfm) (ITAs), both to be released by BEA on June 14, 2012.  In
addition to the changes mentioned above, BEA’s annual revision of the ITAs will reflect newly
available and more complete source data and minor improvements to estimation methodologies.

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

On April 12, 2012, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division will release the report, “A
Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies 2009-2010"
(www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/edb/2010/).  The Profile is created from import and
export merchandise trade data and company characteristics contained in the Census Bureau’s Business
Register.  The Profile provides government and private sector data users with information on the
characteristics of companies involved in trade, including employment size, type of company, and
major foreign markets.

This year, the report contains two new export exhibits:
• Exhibit 7a - 2010 Exports by 3-Digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
  code for Small and Medium Sized Companies
• Exhibit 7b - 2009 Exports by 3-Digit NAICS code for Small and Medium Sized Companies