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Douglas B. Weinberg: (202) 606-9590 BEA 00-36
Recorded Message: 606-5362
U.S. International Transactions: Third Quarter 2000
Current Account
The U.S. current-account deficit--the combined balances on trade in goods and services,
income, and net unilateral current transfers--increased to $113.8 billion in the third quarter
of 2000 from $105.0 billion (revised) in the second, according to preliminary estimates of the
Bureau of Economic Analysis. The deficit on goods and services, the deficit on income, and net
unilateral current transfers all increased.
Goods and services
The deficit on goods and services increased to $96.5 billion in the third quarter from
$88.6 billion in the second.
Goods
The deficit on goods increased to $115.4 billion in the third quarter from $110.2
billion in the second.
Goods exports increased to $200.4 billion from $191.8 billion. Both agricultural and
nonagricultural exports increased. Within nonagricultural exports, capital goods and industrial
supplies and materials accounted for 90 percent of the increase.
Goods imports increased to $315.8 billion from $302.0 billion. Both petroleum and
nonpetroleum imports increased. The increase in petroleum imports was attributable to a rise
in petroleum prices; the volume of petroleum imports decreased. The largest increases in
nonpetroleum imports were in capital goods, in nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials,
and in automotive products.
Services
The surplus on services decreased to $18.9 billion in the third quarter from $21.6 billion
in the second.
Service receipts edged up to $74.3 billion from $74.2 billion. Increases in travel, in
"other" transportation, and in passenger fares more than offset decreases in royalties and license
fees and in "other" private services, such as financial services and business, professional, and
technical services.
Service payments increased to $55.4 billion from $52.6 billion, reflecting increases in all
services categories. The largest increases were in royalties and license fees, resulting from
payments for rights to broadcast the 2000 Olympic Games, in travel, in "other" transportation, and
in "other" private services.
Income
The deficit on income increased to $4.5 billion in the third quarter from $4.1 billion in the
second.
Investment income
Income receipts on U.S.-owned assets abroad decreased to $86.2 billion from $87.1 billion.
Decreases in direct investment receipts and in U.S. Government receipts more than offset an increase
in "other" private receipts.
Income payments on foreign-owned assets in the United States decreased to $89.4 billion
from $89.8 billion. A decrease in direct investment payments more than offset increases in "other"
private payments and in U.S. Government payments.
Compensation of employees
Receipts for compensation of U.S. workers abroad were unchanged at $0.6 billion. Payments
for compensation of foreign workers in the United States edged down to $1.9 billion from $2.0 billion.
Unilateral current transfers
Unilateral current transfers were net outflows of $12.8 billion in the third quarter, up from
net outflows of $12.3 billion in the second. The increase was accounted for by increases in U.S.
Government grants and in private remittances and other transfers.
Capital and Financial Account
Capital Account
Capital account transactions were net inflows of $0.2 billion in the third quarter, unchanged
from the second.
Financial Account
Net recorded financial inflows--the difference between changes in U.S.-owned assets abroad
and changes in foreign-owned assets in the United States--were $123.0 billion in the third quarter,
compared with $152.7 billion (revised) in the second. Financial inflows for foreign-owned assets in
the United States decreased more than financial outflows for U.S.-owned assets abroad.
U.S.-owned assets abroad
U.S.-owned assets abroad increased $77.2 billion in the third quarter, following an increase
of $92.4 billion in the second.
U.S. claims on foreigners reported by U.S. banks increased $11.4 billion in the third quarter,
in contrast to a decrease of $18.3 billion in the second. The third-quarter increase was largely
attributable to lending by foreign-owned banks in the United States to their own offices abroad.
Net U.S. purchases of foreign securities were $30.4 billion in the third quarter, down from
$38.2 billion in the second. Net U.S. purchases of foreign stocks were $12.5 billion, down sharply
from $45.0 billion; the decrease was attributable to a reduction in exchanges of stock related to
purchases of U.S. companies by foreign companies. Net U.S. transactions in foreign bonds shifted
to net U.S. purchases of $17.9 billion from net U.S. sales of $6.8 billion, partly as a result of an
increase in new foreign issues in the United States.
Net financial outflows for U.S. direct investment abroad were $36.1 billion in the third
quarter, down from $37.5 billion in the second. A decrease in net equity outflows more than offset
an increase in reinvested earnings and smaller inflows for net intercompany debt.
U.S. official reserve assets increased $0.3 billion in the third quarter, in contrast to a
decrease of $2.0 billion in the second.
Foreign-owned assets in the United States
Foreign-owned assets in the United States increased $200.2 billion in the third quarter,
following an increase of $245.1 billion in the second.
U.S. liabilities to foreigners reported by U.S. banks, excluding U.S. Treasury securities,
increased $14.0 billion in the third quarter, following an increase of $46.9 billion in the second.
The third-quarter increase was largely attributable to borrowing by foreign-owned banks in the
United States from their own offices abroad.
Net sales of U.S. Treasury securities by foreigners were $12.6 billion in the third quarter,
down from $20.6 billion in the second. The decrease was largely accounted for by a decrease in net
sales by investors in Western Europe.
Net foreign purchases of U.S. securities other than U.S. Treasury securities were $118.9
billion in the third quarter, up from $87.1 billion in the second. Net foreign purchases of U.S.
stocks were $46.8 billion, up sharply from $26.3 billion; the increase was attributable to shifts to
net purchases by investors in Caribbean financial centers and in Japan and to an increase in net
purchases by investors in Western Europe. Net foreign purchases of U.S. corporate and other
bonds were a record $72.1 billion, up from $60.8 billion; the increase was partly attributable to
record net foreign purchases of U.S. federally sponsored agency bonds.
Net financial inflows for foreign direct investment in the United States were $64.9 billion in
the third quarter, down from $100.3 billion in the second. Although net equity inflows fell sharply,
they remained strong as a result of numerous large acquisitions. Net intercompany debt inflows
and reinvested earnings both decreased.
Net U.S. currency shipments from the United States to foreign countries were $0.8 billion in
the third quarter, down from $1.0 billion in the second.
Foreign official assets in the United States increased $11.6 billion in the third quarter,
following an increase of $6.3 billion in the second.
The statistical discrepancy--errors and omissions in recorded transactions--was a negative
$9.4 billion in the third quarter, following a negative $47.9 billion in the second.
In the third quarter, the U.S. dollar appreciated 2 percent on a trade-weighted quarterly
average basis against a group of 7 major currencies.
Revisions
The second-quarter international transactions are revised from previously published
estimates. The current-account deficit was revised to $105.0 billion from $106.1 billion. The
goods deficit was unchanged at $110.2 billion; the services surplus was revised to $21.6 billion
from $21.0 billion; the deficit on income was revised to $4.1 billion from $4.5 billion; and
unilateral current transfers were unchanged at net outflows of $12.3 billion.
* * *
Release dates for 2001:
Fourth quarter 2000...............................................March 15, 2001 (Thursday)
First quarter 2001.................................................June 21, 2001 (Thursday)
Second quarter 2001..........................................September 12, 2001 (Wednesday)
Third quarter 2001............................................December 12, 2001 (Wednesday)
* * *
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Summary BEA estimates are available on recorded messages at the time of public release at
the following telephone numbers:
(202) 606-5362 U.S. international transactions
-5306 Gross domestic product
-5303 Personal income and outlays
Most of BEA's estimates and analyses are published in the Survey of Current Business,
BEA's monthly journal. Subscriptions and single copies of the printed Survey are for sale by the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. Internet: <bookstore.gpo.gov>;
phone: 202-512-1800; fax: 202-512-2250; mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001.
December 14, 2000
Table 1.--U.S. International Transactions
[Millions of dollars, quarters seasonally adjusted]
1999 2000 Change:
(Credits +, debits -) 1999 2000
I II III IV I IIr IIIp II-III
Current account
1 Exports of goods and services and income receipts.................................... 1,232,407 293,717 300,994 313,084 324,612 336,854 353,622 361,467 7,845
2 Exports of goods and services................................................... 956,242 230,321 234,297 241,969 249,653 255,977 265,969 274,657 8,688
3 Goods, balance of payments basis............................................ 684,358 163,949 166,443 173,881 180,085 183,728 191,783 200,385 8,602
4 Services.................................................................... 271,884 66,372 67,854 68,088 69,568 72,249 74,186 74,272 86
5 Transfers under U.S. military agency sales contracts.................... 16,334 4,240 4,561 3,944 3,589 3,574 3,699 3,720 21
6 Travel.................................................................. 74,881 18,140 18,564 18,695 19,482 20,431 21,363 21,567 204
7 Passenger fares......................................................... 19,776 4,814 4,902 5,105 4,955 5,062 5,387 5,475 88
8 Other transportation.................................................... 27,033 6,515 6,692 6,728 7,097 7,252 7,434 7,596 162
9 Royalties and license fees............................................. 36,467 9,114 9,140 9,106 9,107 9,353 9,584 9,349 -235
10 Other private services................................................. 96,508 23,346 23,772 24,271 25,118 26,373 26,506 26,345 -161
11 U.S. Government miscellaneous services................................. 885 203 223 239 220 204 213 220 7
12 Income receipts................................................................. 276,165 63,396 66,697 71,115 74,959 80,877 87,653 86,810 -843
13 Income receipts on U.S.-owned assets abroad................................ 273,957 62,861 66,149 70,556 74,393 80,302 87,070 86,221 -849
14 Direct investment receipts............................................. 118,802 26,946 28,804 31,361 31,691 34,116 37,898 37,340 -558
15 Other private receipts................................................. 151,958 35,004 36,535 38,449 41,970 45,091 47,938 48,050 112
16 U.S. Government receipts............................................... 3,197 911 810 746 732 1,095 1,234 831 -403
17 Compensation of employees.................................................. 2,208 535 548 559 566 575 583 589 6
18 Imports of goods and services and income payments.................................... -1,515,861 -349,513 -368,439 -391,337 -406,575 -426,335 -446,323 -462,488 -16,165
19 Imports of goods and services................................................... -1,221,213 -282,997 -297,597 -314,687 -325,933 -341,094 -354,567 -371,160 -16,593
20 Goods, balance of payments basis............................................ -1,029,917 -236,973 -250,427 -266,199 -276,318 -289,566 -302,014 -315,801 -13,787
21 Services.................................................................... -191,296 -46,024 -47,170 -48,488 -49,615 -51,528 -52,553 -55,359 -2,806
22 Direct defense expenditures............................................. -13,650 -3,293 -3,373 -3,626 -3,358 -3,322 -3,431 -3,450 -19
23 Travel.................................................................. -59,351 -14,560 -14,718 -14,799 -15,274 -15,837 -16,044 -16,704 -660
24 Passenger fares......................................................... -21,405 -5,215 -5,274 -5,348 -5,568 -5,777 -5,944 -6,203 -259
25 Other transportation.................................................... -34,137 -7,784 -8,187 -8,953 -9,214 -9,582 -9,900 -10,461 -561
26 Royalties and license fees............................................. -13,275 -3,081 -3,224 -3,314 -3,656 -3,590 -3,661 -4,512 -851
27 Other private services................................................. -46,657 -11,401 -11,719 -11,682 -11,855 -12,706 -12,859 -13,305 -446
28 U.S. Government miscellaneous services................................. -2,821 -690 -675 -766 -690 -714 -714 -724 -10
29 Income payments................................................................. -294,648 -66,516 -70,842 -76,650 -80,642 -85,241 -91,756 -91,328 428
30 Income payments on foreign-owned assets in the United States............... -287,059 -64,636 -68,962 -74,749 -78,712 -83,289 -89,776 -89,393 383
31 Direct investment payments............................................. -56,098 -10,916 -14,106 -15,660 -15,416 -17,048 -18,883 -15,782 3,101
32 Other private payments................................................. -135,830 -31,051 -31,701 -34,942 -38,136 -40,167 -43,992 -46,242 -2,250
33 U.S. Government payments............................................... -95,131 -22,669 -23,155 -24,147 -25,160 -26,074 -26,901 -27,369 -468
34 Compensation of employees.................................................. -7,589 -1,880 -1,880 -1,901 -1,930 -1,952 -1,980 -1,935 45
35 Unilateral current transfers, net.................................................... -48,025 -10,831 -11,537 -11,396 -14,260 -12,024 -12,270 -12,752 -482
36 U.S. Government grants.......................................................... -13,774 -2,574 -3,097 -2,847 -5,256 -2,912 -3,232 -3,581 -349
37 U.S. Government pensions and other transfers.................................... -4,401 -1,066 -1,074 -1,080 -1,181 -1,114 -1,125 -1,129 -4
38 Private remittances and other transfers......................................... -29,850 -7,191 -7,366 -7,469 -7,823 -7,998 -7,913 -8,042 -129
December 14, 2000
Table 1.--U.S. International Transactions (Continued)
[Millions of dollars, quarters seasonally adjusted]
1999 2000 Change:
(Credits +, debits -) 1999 2000
I II III IV I IIr IIIp II-III
Capital and financial account
Capital account
39 Capital account transactions, net.................................................... -3,500 157 165 171 -3,993 166 170 165 -5
Financial account
40 U.S.-owned assets abroad, net (increase/financial outflow (-))....................... -430,187 -21,555 -170,842 -122,909 -114,882 -178,958 -92,424 -77,204 15,220
41 U.S. official reserve assets, net................................................ 8,747 4,068 1,159 1,951 1,569 -554 2,020 -346 -2,366
42 Gold........................................................................ .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
43 Special drawing rights...................................................... 10 562 -190 -184 -178 -180 -180 -182 -2
44 Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund......................... 5,484 3 1,413 2,268 1,800 -237 2,328 1,300 -1,028
45 Foreign currencies.......................................................... 3,253 3,503 -64 -133 -53 -137 -128 -1,464 -1,336
46 U.S. Government assets, other than official reserve assets, net.................. 2,751 118 -392 -686 3,711 -131 -574 110 684
47 U.S. credits and other long-term assets..................................... -6,175 -1,314 -2,167 -1,595 -1,099 -1,750 -1,235 -1,052 183
48 Repayments on U.S. credits and other long-term assets....................... 9,560 1,554 1,887 1,026 5,093 1,328 720 1,263 543
49 U.S. foreign currency holdings and U.S. short-term assets, net.............. -634 -122 -112 -117 -283 291 -59 -101 -42
50 U.S. private assets, net......................................................... -441,685 -25,741 -171,609 -124,174 -120,162 -178,273 -93,870 -76,968 16,902
51 Direct investment........................................................... -150,901 -41,112 -32,958 -43,552 -33,280 -42,963 -37,487 -36,088 1,399
52 Foreign securities.......................................................... -128,594 1,107 -71,131 -41,420 -17,150 -27,236 -38,196 -30,428 7,768
53 U.S. claims on unaffiliated foreigners reported by
U.S. nonbanking concerns............................................... -92,328 -14,223 -25,734 -27,943 -24,428 -52,563 -36,507 931 37,438
54 U.S. claims reported by U.S. banks, not included elsewhere.................. -69,862 28,487 -41,786 -11,259 -45,304 -55,511 18,320 -11,383 -29,703
55 Foreign-owned assets in the United States, net (increase/financial inflow (+))....... 753,564 102,780 272,008 194,210 184,567 236,535 245,149 200,169 -44,980
56 Foreign official assets in the United States, net................................ 42,864 4,274 -1,096 12,191 27,495 22,015 6,346 11,625 5,279
57 U.S. Government securities.................................................. 32,527 6,793 -916 14,798 11,852 24,305 6,334 5,271 -1,063
58 U.S. Treasury securities................................................ 12,177 800 -6,708 12,963 5,122 16,198 -4,000 -9,001 -5,001
59 Other................................................................... 20,350 5,993 5,792 1,835 6,730 8,107 10,334 14,272 3,938
60 Other U.S. Government liabilities........................................... -3,255 -1,485 -1,099 -760 89 -644 -781 -620 161
61 U.S. liabilities reported by U.S. banks, not included elsewhere............. 12,692 -1,139 1,436 -2,032 14,427 -2,577 -111 6,339 6,450
62 Other foreign official assets............................................... 900 105 -517 185 1,127 931 904 635 -269
63 Other foreign assets in the United States, net................................... 710,700 98,506 273,104 182,019 157,072 214,520 238,803 188,544 -50,259
64 Direct investment........................................................... 275,533 26,779 143,802 55,563 49,390 48,962 100,323 64,933 -35,390
65 U.S. Treasury securities.................................................... -20,464 -7,505 -5,407 9,639 -17,191 -9,248 -20,597 -12,642 7,955
66 U.S. securities other than U.S. Treasury securities......................... 331,523 62,815 80,838 95,620 92,250 132,416 87,107 118,882 31,775
67 U.S. currency............................................................... 22,407 2,440 3,057 4,697 12,213 -6,847 989 757 -232
68 U.S. liabilities to unaffiliated foreigners reported by
U.S. nonbanking concerns.............................................. 34,298 27,928 13,663 -8,085 792 58,061 24,038 2,633 -21,405
69 U.S. liabilities reported by U.S. banks, not included elsewhere............. 67,403 -13,951 37,151 24,585 19,618 -8,824 46,943 13,981 -32,962
70 Statistical discrepancy (sum of above items with sign reversed)...................... 11,602 -14,755 -22,349 18,177 30,531 43,762 -47,924 -9,357 38,567
Memoranda:
71 Balance on goods (lines 3 and 20).................................................... -345,559 -73,024 -83,984 -92,318 -96,233 -105,838 -110,231 -115,416 -5,185
72 Balance on services (lines 4 and 21)................................................. 80,588 20,348 20,684 19,600 19,953 20,721 21,633 18,913 -2,720
73 Balance on goods and services (lines 2 and 19)....................................... -264,971 -52,676 -63,300 -72,718 -76,280 -85,117 -88,598 -96,503 -7,905
74 Balance on income (lines 12 and 29).................................................. -18,483 -3,120 -4,145 -5,535 -5,683 -4,364 -4,103 -4,518 -415
75 Unilateral current transfers, net (line 35).......................................... -48,025 -10,831 -11,537 -11,396 -14,260 -12,024 -12,270 -12,752 -482
76 Balance on current account (lines 1, 18, and 35 or lines 73, 74, and 75)............. -331,479 -66,627 -78,982 -89,649 -96,223 -101,505 -104,971 -113,773 -8,802
r Revised. p Preliminary.
NOTE:--Details may not add to totals because of rounding. Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
