The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $40.9 billion in April, down $9.7 billion from $50.6 billion in March, revised. April exports were $189.9 billion, $1.9 billion more than March exports. April imports were $230.8 billion, $7.8 billion less than
March imports.
[Reposted from the BEA Website | June 3, 3015]
The April decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $9.3 billion to $60.7 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.4 billion to $19.8 billion.
Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $1.5 billion, or 0.9 percent, from the same period in 2014. Exports decreased $18.0 billion or 2.3 percent. Imports decreased $16.5 billion or 1.8 percent.
Goods and Services Three-Month Moving Averages (Exhibit 2)
The average goods and services deficit decreased $0.5 billion to $42.9 billion for the three months ending in April.
* Average exports of goods and services increased $0.1 billion to $188.2 billion in April.
* Average imports of goods and services decreased $0.4 billion to $231.1 billion in April.
Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit decreased $0.5 billion from the three months ending in April 2014.
* Average exports of goods and services decreased $4.9 billion from April 2014.
* Average imports of goods and services decreased $5.4 billion from April 2014.
Exports (Exhibits 3, 6, and 7)
Exports of goods increased $1.9 billion to $129.0 billion in April.
Exports of goods on a Census basis increased $2.1 billion.
* Capital goods increased $2.1 billion.
o Civilian aircraft increased $1.0 billion.
o Telecommunications equipment increased $0.6 billion.
o Other industrial machines increased $0.3 billion.
Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.2 billion.
Exports of services increased less than $0.1 billion to $60.9 billion in April.
* Other business services increased $0.1 billion.* Transport, which includes freight and port services and passenger fares, decreased $0.2
billion.
Imports (Exhibits 4, 6, and 8)
Imports of goods decreased $7.4 billion to $189.6 billion in April.
Imports of goods on a Census basis decreased $7.5 billion.
* Consumer goods decreased $4.9 billion.
o Cell phones and other household goods decreased $1.3 billion.
o Other textile apparel and household goods decreased $0.9 billion.
o Footwear decreased $0.8 billion.
Net balance of payments adjustments increased $0.1 billion.
Imports of services decreased $0.4 billion to $41.1 billion in April.
* Transport decreased $0.5 billion.
* Travel (for all purposes including education) increased $0.1 billion.
Real Goods in 2009 Dollars – Census Basis (Exhibit 11)
The real goods deficit decreased $9.2 billion to $57.2 billion in April.
* Real exports of goods increased $2.9 billion to $121.6 billion.
* Real imports of goods decreased $6.4 billion to $178.8 billion.
Revisions
Exports and imports of goods and services for all months through March 2015 shown in this release reflect the incorporation of annual revisions to the goods and services series. See the “Notice” in this release for a description of the revisions.
Revisions to March exports
* Exports of goods were revised upward less than $0.1 billion.
* Exports of services were revised upward $0.1 billion.
Revisions to March imports
* Imports of goods were revised downward $0.5 billion.
* Imports of services were revised downward $0.1 billion.
Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (Exhibit 19)
The April figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($3.0), Brazil ($0.8), and OPEC ($0.5). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($27.5), European Union ($11.9), Japan ($6.7), Germany ($5.9), Mexico ($4.2), Italy ($2.2), South Korea ($2.1), India ($1.5), France ($1.1), United Kingdom ($1.0), Canada ($0.3), and Saudi Arabia ($0.1).
* The deficit with China decreased $11.4 billion to $27.5 billion in April. Exports increased $0.9 billion to $10.3 billion and imports decreased $10.5 billion to $37.7 billion.
* The deficit with the European Union increased $1.0 billion to $11.9 billion in April. Exports increased $0.9 billion to $23.6 billion and imports increased $1.9 billion to $35.6 billion.
Goods and Services by Selected Countries and Areas: Quarterly – Balance of Payments Basis (Exhibit 20)
The first quarter figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($16.4), Brazil ($7.4), OPEC ($6.2), United Kingdom ($3.0), Canada ($2.9), and Saudi Arabia ($1.4). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($89.1), European Union ($23.0), Germany ($19.7), Japan ($14.1), Mexico ($12.2), Italy ($7.9), India ($7.2), South Korea ($5.0), and France ($3.3).
* The deficit with China increased $6.4 billion to $89.1 billion in the first quarter. Exports decreased $2.8 billion to $39.9 billion and imports increased $3.6 billion to $129.0 billion.
* The balance with OPEC countries shifted from a deficit of $1.5 billion to a surplus of $6.2 billion in the first quarter. Exports decreased $1.1 billion to $27.1 billion and imports decreased $8.9 billion to $20.9 billion.
NOTES:
* All statistics referenced are seasonally adjusted; statistics are on a balance of payments basis unless otherwise specified. Additional statistics, including not seasonally adjusted statistics and details for goods on a Census basis, are available in Exhibits 1-20b of this release. For information on data sources, definitions, and scheduled release dates through December 2015, see the information section on page A-1 of this release. The next release is July 7, 2015.
* For definitions of goods on a balance of payments basis, goods on a Census basis, and net balance of payments adjustments, see the information section on page A-1 of this release.
NOTICE
Revisions to Goods and Services
In this release and in the accompanying “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual Revision for 2014” release, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are publishing revised statistics on U.S. trade in goods for January 2012 to March 2015 and revised statistics on U.S. trade in services for January 1999 to March 2015. The revised statistics will also be included in the report “U.S. International Transactions: First Quarter 2015 and Annual Revisions” and in the international transactions interactive database on BEA’s Web site, both to be released by BEA on June 18, 2015.
This annual revision has not changed the overall trend in the goods and services balance. On an annual basis, the goods and services deficit was revised downward 0.2 percent for 2012 and was revised upward 0.4 percent for 2013 and 0.7 percent for 2014. The goods deficit was revised downward for 2012 and was revised upward for 2013 and 2014; the services surplus was nearly unrevised for 2012, was revised downward for 2013, and was revised upward for 2014. Revisions for 1999–2011 did not impact the goods and services totals or balances.
Goods
Revised statistics on trade in goods reflect 1) corrections and adjustments to previously published not seasonally adjusted statistics for goods on a Census basis, 2) recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments, and 3) newly available and revised source data on balance of payments (BOP) adjustments, which are adjustments that BEA applies to goods on a Census basis to convert them to a BOP basis. BOP adjustments are presented as net adjustments in this release.
Services
Revised statistics on trade in services beginning with 1999 reflect the reclassification of repairs related to Foreign Military Sales from exports of government goods and services n.i.e. (not included elsewhere) to exports of maintenance and repair services n.i.e. Revised statistics beginning with 2012 also reflect 1) newly available and revised source data primarily from BEA’s surveys of international services transactions, 2) revised seasonal adjustments, and 3) revised interpolations of quarterly source data to monthly statistics (see the information section on page A-4 of this release).
A preview of BEA’s 2015 annual revision of the International Transactions Accounts was published in the April 2015 Survey of Current Business. If you have questions, please contact BEA’s Balance of Payments Division at [email protected]
New U.S. Census Bureau Report on U.S. International Trade in Goods
On July 30, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., the U.S. Census Bureau will introduce a new release, “Advance Report: U.S. International Trade in Goods.” This report will:
* Be released monthly, 4-7 business days in advance of the “U.S. International Trade in
Goods and Services” report (FT-900).
* Present advance statistics for the reference month. For example, the July 30 release will
feature advance statistics for June 2015.
* Contain statistics for international trade in goods on a Census basis by principal end-use
category.
* Include both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted statistics.
* Not include statistics for trade in goods on a balance of payments basis or statistics for
trade in services, both of which will continue to be featured in the FT-900.
* Be available at www.census.gov/trade.
In accordance with Section 7 of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 3, OMB granted the Census Bureau an exception to the previously approved schedule for the release of the FT-900. OMB granted the exception for the sole purpose of publicly releasing advance monthly statistics on trade in goods.
The new report will present two sets of statistics: “Advance” statistics, which reflect partial coverage, and “Final” statistics, which reflect complete coverage and correspond to the most recently published statistics in Exhibits 6 and 13 of the FT-900. Sample exhibits of the newreport are available at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/notices/20150405_advrelease.html.
The release schedule for this report through December 2015 is as follows:
Statistical Month Date Day
June 07-30-15 Thu
July 08-28-15 Fri
August 09-29-15 Tue
September 10-28-15 Wed
October 11-24-15 Tue
November 12-29-15 Tue
If you have questions, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, on (800) 549-0595, option 4, on (301) 763-2311, or at [email protected]
To learn more about the FT-900 and other economic indicators the Census Bureau publishes, join the Economic Indicators Division for the “Investigating Economic Indicators” Webinar series. For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar.
