WikiLeaks Document Release
               http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612
                                             February 2, 2009



                       Congressional Research Service
                                      Report RS22612
           U.S.-World Merchandise Trade Data: 1948-2006
                             J. Michael Donnelly, Knowledge Services Group

                                             February 23, 2007

Abstract. Latest official annual trade statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce, used in this report,
show that U.S. exports remain strong and growing and that U.S. imports remain even stronger, resulting in the
largest annual merchandise trade deficit in U.S. history.
                                                                                                                                               Order Code RS22612
                                                                                                                                                  February 23, 2007




                                                          U.S.-World Merchandise Trade Data:
                                                                      1948-2006
                                                                                      J. Michael Donnelly
                                                                                Information Research Specialist
                                                                                   Knowledge Services Group

                                        Summary

                                              U.S. merchandise trade is trade in goods only, not services. In 2006, U.S. exports,
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612




                                        imports, and trade deficit reached their highest historical values: U.S. exports were $1.0
                                        trillion, a 14.5% increase; U.S. imports were $1.9 trillion, a 10.9% increase; and the
                                        U.S. merchandise trade balance reached -$818 billion, a 6.6% increase.
                                             Merchandise trade statistics are used to measure trade in commodities and with
                                        partner countries and groups. Latest official annual trade statistics of the U.S.
                                        Department of Commerce, used in this report, show that U.S. exports remain strong and
                                        growing and that U.S. imports remain even stronger, resulting in the largest annual
                                        merchandise trade deficit in U.S. history. This report will be updated as new
                                        information becomes available.



                                                                       Figure 1. U.S. Merchandise Trade, 1951-2006
                                                    $2,000.0
                                                                                                                                                    Imports
                                                    $1,500.0

                                                    $1,000.0                                                                                        Exports
                                         Billions




                                                      $500.0

                                                        $0.0

                                                     -$500.0
                                                                                                                                                    Balance
                                                    -$1,000.0
                                                                1951   1956   1961   1966   1971   1976   1981   1986   1991   1996   2001   2006
                                                                                                     Years


                                                           Source: U.S. Department of Commerce.
                                                                                   CRS-2

                                        Merchandise Trade Versus Trade in Goods and Services
                                             Merchandise trade statistics are referred to as Census basis statistics because they are
                                        collected, compiled, and distributed by the U.S. Census Bureau. These are the data
                                        reported here and constitute the one continuing data series using largely uniform
                                        definitions. Merchandise trade statistics are important because they alone are the basis
                                        for commodity and country trade information.

                                             In January 1994, the U.S. Department of Commerce began reporting and publishing
                                        trade data on goods and services as the benchmark monthly trade statistic, supplementing
                                        merchandise trade data. Services trade statistics are compiled by the Bureau of Economic
                                        Analysis (BEA) on a balance of payments (BOP) basis. To harmonize Census
                                        merchandise data with BEA services data, statistics on goods and services are reported
                                        on a BOP basis. This involves such changes as deducting U.S. military sales from
                                        merchandise accounts, because they are considered services transactions, and adding to
                                        merchandise statistics parcels mailed to foreigners by individuals in the United States.
                                        What this means is that the goods component of trade in goods and services is different
                                        from the goods measured in merchandise trade statistics.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612




                                        Definitions in Merchandise Trade
                                              Merchandise trade is trade in goods only, not services, and excludes capital transfers
                                        and foreign investments. Exports are defined in this report as total exports; they include
                                        both domestically produced goods and re-exports, which constitute imports of goods that
                                        are warehoused in the United States, then re-exported. Imports are defined here as
                                        general imports, which measure total arrivals of goods into the United States -- imports
                                        for both immediate consumption channels and warehouses or Foreign Trade Zones.
                                        Balance of merchandise trade is defined here, and in standard U.S. Department of
                                        Commerce data, as total exports minus general imports. Dollar amounts are current U.S.
                                        dollars, that is, official statistics with no inflation adjustment, expressed in millions,
                                        billions, or trillions, as noted.

                                             Valuation methods define where in a trade transaction the value of a good is
                                        measured. As goods move in international trade, they acquire more costs. Although an
                                        automobile has one cost at the end of its assembly line, it acquires a higher cost when
                                        shipping and insurance to a local dealer or port for export are added. For this report,
                                        current official U.S. government valuation practice is followed.

                                             !   Total exports are valued free alongside, or FAS. FAS figures provide
                                                 valuation of exports at the port of exportation and thus exclude charges
                                                 for loading onto the vessel, the transportation itself, insurance, unloading,
                                                 and foreign transportation.

                                             !   General imports are valued on Customs valuation. Customs valuation for
                                                 imports excludes costs of international transportation and insurance, as
                                                 well as tariffs, and is therefore quite similar to FAS valuation. Customs
                                                 valuation for imports replaced FAS valuation in U.S. government
                                                 statistics in 1982.
                                                                                            CRS-3

                                        Recent Annual Trade Trends
                                              In 2006, the latest complete year for trade data, U.S. exports increased by $131
                                        billion, or 14%, to $1,037 billion, or $1.0 trillion. Imports increased by $182 billion, or
                                        11%, to $1,855 billion, or $1.9 trillion. These statistics resulted in the U.S. merchandise
                                        trade deficit increasing $51 billion, or nearly 6%, to $818 billion. This 2006 merchandise
                                        trade deficit increase follows a 2005 merchandise trade deficit increase of $117 billion.
                                        Since 2002, the annual merchandise trade deficit has been growing by approximately
                                        $100 billion per year.

                                                                     Figure 2. U.S. Merchandise Trade, 2000-2006

                                                          $2,000.0

                                                          $1,500.0

                                                          $1,000.0
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612




                                           Billions




                                                           $500.0

                                                             $0.0

                                                          -$500.0
                                                                        00



                                                                                  01



                                                                                            02



                                                                                                        03



                                                                                                                 04



                                                                                                                           05



                                                                                                                                     06
                                                                     20



                                                                               20



                                                                                         20



                                                                                                     20



                                                                                                              20



                                                                                                                        20



                                                                                                                                  20
                                                      -$1,000.0

                                                                                        Exports     Imports   Balance

                                                             Source: U.S. Department of Commerce.



                                             As Figure 2 shows, in the seven-year span from 2000 through 2006, exports
                                        increased $255.4 billion, or 33%, from $782 billion to $1,037 billion. During this time,
                                        imports grew $637 billion, or 52%, from $1,218 to $1,855 billion. This resulted in the
                                        trade deficit nearly doubling from $436 billion to $818 billion.

                                        Merchandise Trade Data Facts
                                                      !    Between 1948 and 2006, merchandise exports grew by over 81 times, and
                                                           merchandise imports grew by 261 times.
                                                      !    U.S. merchandise exports exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 2006.
                                                      !    U.S. merchandise imports exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 1999.
                                                      !    The U.S. merchandise trade balance was in surplus between 1948 and
                                                           1970.
                                                      !    The first U.S. postwar trade deficit occurred in 1971.
                                                      !    The trade deficit exceeded $100 billion for the first time in 1984, but did
                                                           not reach $200 billion until 1998. Since 2002, the U.S. merchandise
                                                           trade deficit has grown between $50 and $120 billion per year.
                                                                                  CRS-4

                                        Where to Find Trade Statistics
                                              U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, series FT-900, is the official
                                        benchmark monthly press release that reports the latest month's statistics and revises the
                                        previous month's statistics. Statistics in this report are on both a Census basis, for
                                        merchandise trade, and a balance of payments basis for goods and services trade. The
                                        December data release provides the preliminary estimate of annual trade totals and now
                                        first appears in February. Final annual revisions are normally released in the June data
                                        release of each year, which normally appears in August. The FT-900 is available in print
                                        by subscription from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
                                        Washington, DC 20402, telephone (202) 512-2303. It is available in all federal
                                        depository libraries. Location of depository libraries may be searched on the Internet at
                                        [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html]. It is also available from both the U.S. Census
                                        Bureau, at [http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/ustrade.html], and BEA, at
                                        [http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/tradnewsrelease.htm].

                                              The FT-900 is prepared jointly by two agencies within the U.S. Department of
                                        Commerce, the Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division (FTD) and the Bureau of
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612




                                        Economic Analysis (BEA). The FT-900 may be found in many sources besides print and
                                        the Internet, mentioned above. STAT-USA Internet is a subscription service of the U.S.
                                        Department of Commerce, which provides the FT-900 as well as exports and imports by
                                        commodity and by country. Trade data on STAT-USA Internet, [http://www.stat-
                                        usa.gov/], is in the "Globus and NTDB" section. Individual subscriptions to STAT-USA
                                        Internet are also available at [http://www.stat-usa.gov/].

                                            U.S. trade data with the world, individual countries, and regions, as well as U.S. state
                                        export data may be found in a Department of Commerce source, TradeStats Express,
                                        which presents trade data with colorful graphics and maps; [http://tse.export.gov/].

                                             Detailed monthly trade data with extensive commodity information is published by
                                        the U.S. Department of Commerce. Information on particular commodity trade data
                                        subscriptions may be obtained by calling (301) 457-2311 or on the FTD website at
                                        [http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/].

                                              Economic Indicators, a monthly statistical magazine prepared for the Joint Economic
                                        Committee by the Council of Economic Advisers, contains summary trade data. The table
                                        titled "U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services," on page 35 of each issue,
                                        contains data on both a balance of payments basis and a Census basis. Economic
                                        Indicators is available by subscription from the U.S. Government Printing Office.

                                              Economic Report of the President, published annually in February, contains tables
                                        that provide mainly annual merchandise trade statistics on both a Census basis and a BOP
                                        basis. It is available at [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/index.html].
                                                                                            CRS-5

                                                      Table 1. Annual Change in U.S. Merchandise Trade:
                                                          Exports, Imports, and Balance: 1948-2006
                                                (Census basis as of February 2007; values in current U.S. millions of dollars)

                                                                              %                                      %
                                                              Change                  U.S. Merch.    Change
                                               U.S. Merch.                 Change                                  Change    U.S. Merch.     Change From
                                                               From                     Imports       From
                                        Year     Exports                    From                                    From       Trade          Previous
                                                              Previous                 Customs       Previous
                                               FAS Value                   Previous                               Previous     Balance          Year
                                                                Year                     Value         Year
                                                                             Year                                   Year
                                        1948       12,653.1          --         --         7,123.9          --         --          5,529.2             --
                                        1949       12,051.1       -602.0      -4.8%        6,622.3       -501.6       -7.0         5,428.8         -100.4
                                        1950        9,992.9     -2,058.2      -17.1        8,852.2      2,229.9       33.7         1,140.7        -4,288.1
                                        1951       13,967.4      3,974.5       39.8       10,967.3      2,115.1       23.9         3,000.1        1,859.4
                                        1952       13,203.0       -764.4       -5.5       10,717.5       -249.8       -2.3         2,485.5         -514.6
                                        1953       12,262.4       -940.6       -7.1       10,873.3       155.8         1.5         1,389.1        -1,096.4
                                        1954       12,854.3       591.9         4.8       10,215.4       -657.9       -6.1         2,638.9        1,249.8
                                        1955       14,290.9      1,436.6       11.2       11,384.4      1,169.0       11.4         2,906.5          267.6
                                        1956       17,333.0      3,042.1       21.3       12,614.9      1,230.5       10.8         4,718.1        1,811.6
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612




                                        1957       19,494.9      2,161.9       12.5       12,982.3       367.4         2.9         6,512.6        1,794.5
                                        1958       16,367.0     -3,127.9      -16.0       12,834.5       -147.8       -1.1         3,532.5        -2,980.1
                                        1959       16,406.9        39.9         0.2       15,207.2      2,372.7       18.5         1,199.7        -2,332.8
                                        1960       19,626.3      3,219.4       19.6       15,017.5       -189.7       -1.2         4,608.8        3,409.1
                                        1961       20,189.5      7,335.2       57.1       14,713.9      4,498.5       44.0         5,475.6        2,836.7
                                        1962       20,972.6       783.1         3.9       16,389.5      1,675.6       11.4         4,583.1         -892.5
                                        1963       22,427.3      1,454.7        6.9       17,138.0       748.5         4.6         5,289.3          706.2
                                        1964       25,690.1      3,262.8       14.5       18,684.4      1,546.4        9.0         7,005.7        1,716.4
                                        1965       26,699.4      1,009.3        3.9       21,365.6      2,681.2       14.3         5,333.8        -1,671.9
                                        1966       29,379.2      2,679.8       10.0       25,542.2      4,176.6       19.5         3,837.0        -1,496.8
                                        1967       30,934.4      1,555.2        5.3       26,812.3      1,270.1        5.0         4,122.1          285.1
                                        1968       34,062.8      3,128.4       10.1       33,226.3      6,414.0       23.9           836.5        -3,285.6
                                        1969       37,331.7      3,268.9        9.6       36,042.8      2,816.5        8.5         1,288.9          452.4
                                        1970       43,176.3      5,844.6       15.7       39,951.6      3,908.8       10.8         3,224.7        1,935.8
                                        1971       44,086.6       910.3         2.1       45,562.7      5,611.1       14.0        -1,476.1        -4,700.8
                                        1972       49,854.0      5,767.4       13.1       55,582.8     10,020.1       22.0        -5,728.8        -4,252.7
                                        1973       71,865.2    22,011.2        44.2       69,475.7     13,892.9       25.0         2,389.5        8,118.3
                                        1974       99,436.9    27,571.7        38.4      103,320.8     33,845.1       48.7        -3,883.9        -6,273.4
                                        1975     108,855.6       9,418.7        9.5       99,304.7     -4,016.1       -3.9         9,550.9       13,434.8
                                        1976     116,794.1       7,938.5        7.3      124,613.9     25,309.2       25.5        -7,819.8       -17,370.7
                                        1977     123,181.5       6,387.4        5.5      151,534.3     26,920.4       21.6       -28,352.8       -20,533.0
                                        1978     145,846.9     22,665.4        18.4      176,052.0     24,517.7       16.2       -30,205.1        -1,852.3
                                        1979     186,362.7     40,515.8        27.8      210,285.1     34,233.1       19.4       -23,922.4        6,282.7
                                        1980     225,566.1     39,203.4        21.0      245,261.9     34,976.8       16.6       -19,695.8        4,226.6
                                        1981     238,715.0     13,148.9         5.8      260,981.9     15,720.0        6.4       -22,266.9        -2,571.1
                                        1982     216,441.6     -22,273.4       -9.3      243,951.9    -17,030.0       -6.5       -27,510.3        -5,243.4
                                        1983     205,638.6     -10,803.0       -5.0      258,047.8     14,095.9        5.8       -52,409.2       -24,898.9
                                        1984     223,975.8     18,337.2         8.9      330,678.4     72,630.6       28.1      -106,702.6       -54,293.4
                                        1985     218,814.9      -5,160.9       -2.3      336,526.4      5,848.0        1.8      -117,711.5       -11,008.9
                                                                                                CRS-6

                                                                                  %                                        %
                                                                  Change                  U.S. Merch.     Change
                                                  U.S. Merch.                  Change                                    Change    U.S. Merch.      Change From
                                                                   From                     Imports        From
                                          Year      Exports                     From                                      From       Trade           Previous
                                                                  Previous                 Customs        Previous
                                                  FAS Value                    Previous                                 Previous     Balance           Year
                                                                    Year                     Value          Year
                                                                                 Year                                     Year
                                          1986       227,158.5       8,343.6        3.8      365,437.7      28,911.3         8.6      -138,279.2        -20,567.7
                                          1987       254,121.9      26,963.4       11.9      406,241.0      40,803.3        11.2      -152,119.1        -13,839.9
                                          1988       322,426.4      68,304.5       26.9      440,952.3      34,711.3         8.5      -118,525.9        33,593.2
                                          1989       363,811.5      41,385.1       12.8      473,210.8      32,258.5         7.3      -109,399.3          9,126.6
                                          1990       393,592.3      29,780.8        8.2      495,310.5      22,099.7         4.7      -101,718.2          7,681.1
                                          1991       421,730.0      28,137.7        7.1      488,453.0       -6,857.5       -1.4        -66,723.0       34,995.2
                                          1992       448,163.6      26,433.6        6.3      532,664.8      44,211.8         9.1        -84,501.2       -17,778.2
                                          1993       465,091.0      16,927.4        3.8      580,659.0      47,994.2         9.0      -115,568.0        -31,066.8
                                          1994       512,626.0      47,535.0       10.2      663,255.7      82,596.7        14.2      -150,629.7        -35,061.7
                                          1995       584,742.0      72,116.0       14.1      743,542.7      80,287.0        12.1      -158,800.7         -8,171.0
                                          1996       625,074.9      40,332.9        6.9      795,289.2      51,746.5         7.0      -170,214.3        -11,413.6
                                          1997       689,182.4      64,107.5       10.3      869,703.9      74,414.7         9.4      -180,521.5        -10,307.2
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS22612




                                          1998       682,137.7      -7,044.7       -1.0      911,896.1      42,192.2         4.9      -229,758.4        -49,236.9
                                          1999       695,797.2      13,695.5        2.0     1,024,618.2    112,722.1        12.4      -328,821.0        -99,062.6
                                          2000       781,917.7      86,120.5       12.4     1,218,022.0    193,403.8        18.9      -436,104.3       -107,283.3
                                          2001       729,100.3     -52,817.4       -6.8     1,140,999.4     -77,022.6       -6.3      -411,899.1        24,205.2
                                          2002       693,103.2     -35,997.1       -4.9     1,161,366.0     20,366.6         1.8      -468,262.8        -56,363.7
                                          2003       724,771.0      31,667.8        4.6     1,257,121.3     95,755.3         8.2      -532.350.3        -64,087.5
                                          2004       818,774.9      94,003.9       13.0     1,469,704.4    212,583.1        16.9      -650,929.5       -118,579.2
                                          2005       905,977.6      87,202.7       10.7     1,673,454.5    203,750.1        13.9      -767,476.9       -116,547.4
                                          2006      1,037,319.9    131,342.3       14.5     1,855,423.4    181,968.9        10.9      -818,103.6        -50,626.7

                                        Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis News, U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, various
                                        dates, at [http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/tradnewsrelease.htm].