FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009          CB09-87
                                                                         BEA09-25
                                                                         FT-900 (09-04)

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

                U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES
                           Annual Revision for 2008

NOTICE

In this release and in the accompanying “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services:
April 2009,” the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are
jointly publishing revised data on U.S. trade in goods for 2001-2008 and for the first
three months of 2009 and revised data on services for 2006-2008 and for the first
three months of 2009.

This annual revision has not changed the overall trend in the goods and services balance.
For 2001-2007, the goods and services deficit is revised less than 1 percent each year.
For 2008, the goods and services deficit is revised up $14.8 bilion, or 2.2 percent.

Goods

The 2008 not seasonally adjusted Census-basis goods data were revised to redistribute
monthly data that arrived too late for inclusion in the month of transaction but that
were included, initially, in the month in which the data were received.  In addition,
corrections were made to previously published 2008 data.  Also, goods export data from
January 2004 through December 2008 were revised as a result of analysis of the aircraft
industry.  Once the redistributions of data to the proper month of transaction and
corrections were completed, factors for seasonal adjustment and trading day adjustments
were recomputed and the seasonally adjusted current-dollar series were revised for 2006-2008
and the first three months of 2009.  Similar changes were made to the chain-weighted dollar
series.  The chain-weighted dollar series has also been revised using 2005 as the base year.

Beginning with 2001, a new balance of payments adjustment to Census-basis imports has been
added to improve the coverage of locomotives and railcars.  Other import adjustments have
been revised for 2008 based on updated source data.  The export adjustment for transfers
under U.S. military agency sales contracts has been revised beginning with 2002 because of
a change in methodology, and other export adjustments have been revised beginning with 2007
based on updated source data.

Services

The services estimates were revised for 2006-2008 and for the first three months of 2009.
The revisions resulted largely from the incorporation of updated results from BEA’s benchmark
survey of selected international services for 2006, updated results from BEA’s quarterly
surveys of international services beginning with the first quarter of 2007, and new information
on transfers under U.S. military agency sales contracts beginning with 2006.  The BEA surveys
cover transactions in royalties and license fees and other private services.  On an annual basis,
the revisions to services receipts are larger than the revisions to services payments.