FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017 CB 17-48 BEA 17-16 FT-900 (17-02) 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 2017 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 $43.6 billion in February, down $4.6 billion from $48.2 billion in January, revised. February exports were $192.9 billion, $0.4 billion more than January exports. February imports were $236.4 billion, $4.3 billion less than January imports. The February decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $4.6 billion to $65.0 billion and an increase in the services surplus of less than $0.1 billion to $21.4 billion. Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $2.8 billion, or 3.1 percent, from the same period in 2016. Exports increased $25.8 billion or 7.2 percent. Imports increased $28.6 billion or 6.4 percent. Goods and Services Three-Month Moving Averages (Exhibit 2) The average goods and services deficit decreased $0.6 billion to $45.3 billion for the three months ending in February. * Average exports of goods and services increased $2.3 billion to $192.1 billion in February. * Average imports of goods and services increased $1.7 billion to $237.5 billion in February. Year-over-year the average goods and services deficit increased $1.9 billion from the three months ending in February 2016. * Average exports of goods and services increased $11.3 billion from February 2016. * Average imports of goods and services increased $13.1 billion from February 2016. Exports (Exhibits 3, 6, and 7) Exports of goods increased $0.4 billion to $128.5 billion in February. Exports of goods on a Census basis increased $0.5 billion. * Consumer goods increased $0.7 billion. o Pharmaceutical preparations increased $0.6 billion. * Other goods increased $0.5 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials increased $0.4 billion. * Foods, feeds, and beverages decreased $0.7 billion. o Soybeans decreased $0.6 billion. * Capital goods decreased $0.6 billion. o Civilian aircraft decreased $0.6 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.2 billion. Exports of services increased less than $0.1 billion to $64.4 billion in February. * Changes in all categories were $0.1 billion or less and were nearly offsetting. Imports (Exhibits 4, 6, and 8) Imports of goods decreased $4.2 billion to $193.4 billion in February. Imports of goods on a Census basis decreased $4.1 billion. * Consumer goods decreased $3.1 billion. o Cell phones and other household goods decreased $1.9 billion. * Automotive vehicles, parts, and engines decreased $2.6 billion. o Passenger cars decreased $2.1 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials increased $1.4 billion. o Crude oil increased $1.3 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.1 billion. Imports of services decreased less than $0.1 billion to $43.0 billion in February. * Changes in all categories were $0.1 billion or less and were nearly offsetting. Real Goods in 2009 Dollars – Census Basis (Exhibit 11) The real goods deficit decreased $5.4 billion to $59.7 billion in February. * Real exports of goods increased $0.4 billion to $124.5 billion. * Real imports of goods decreased $5.0 billion to $184.2 billion. Revisions Revisions to January exports * Exports of goods were revised upward $0.2 billion. * Exports of services were revised upward $0.3 billion. Revisions to January imports * Imports of goods were revised upward less than $0.1 billion. * Imports of services were revised upward $0.1 billion. Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (Exhibit 19) The February figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong ($3.3), South and Central America ($2.0), Singapore ($1.1), Brazil ($0.5), and United Kingdom ($0.2). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($31.7), European Union ($12.0), Mexico ($6.2), Germany ($5.4), Japan ($4.9), Canada ($2.4), OPEC ($2.2), Italy ($2.1), South Korea ($1.9), India ($1.8), France ($1.3), Saudi Arabia ($1.2), and Taiwan ($1.1). * The balance with the United Kingdom shifted from a deficit of $0.9 billion to a surplus of $0.2 billion in February. Exports increased $0.6 billion to $4.5 billion and imports decreased $0.5 billion to $4.3 billion. * The deficit with Japan decreased $0.6 billion to $4.9 billion in February. Exports decreased less than $0.1 billion to $5.5 billion and imports decreased $0.7 billion to $10.4 billion. * The deficit with China increased $1.6 billion to $31.7 billion in February. Exports decreased $0.3 billion to $10.5 billion and imports increased $1.3 billion to $42.2 billion. NOTICE Upcoming Updates to Goods and Services On June 2, 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: April 2017” (FT-900) and “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual Revision for 2016.” With these releases, statistics on trade in goods, on both a Census basis and a balance of payments (BOP) basis, and on trade in services will be revised beginning with 2014. The revised statistics for goods on a BOP basis and for services will also be included in the “U.S. International Transactions: First Quarter 2017 and Annual Update” report and in the international transactions interactive database (www.bea.gov/iTable/index_ita.cfm), both to be released by BEA on June 20, 2017. Goods Revised statistics on trade in goods will reflect 1) corrections and adjustments to previously published not seasonally adjusted statistics for goods on a Census basis, 2) reclassifications of several end-use commodities, 3) recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments, and 4) newly available and revised source data on 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 will reflect 1) newly available and revised source data, primarily from BEA’s surveys of international services transactions, 2) revised seasonal adjustments, and 3) revised temporal distributions of quarterly source data to monthly statistics (see the information section on page A-4 of this release). Change to OPEC With the release of the FT-900 on June 2, 2017, statistics for 2017 for the area grouping “OPEC” in Exhibits 20, 20a, and 20b of the FT-900 will exclude Indonesia, which suspended its membership on November 30, 2016. This change has already been implemented for Exhibits 14, 17a, and 19 of the FT-900 and for Exhibit 4 of the FT-900 Supplement with the March 7, 2017 release of the FT-900. If you have questions, please contact BEA’s Balance of Payments Division at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov. NOTE: 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, revision procedures, and scheduled release dates through December 2017, see the information section on page A-1 of this release. The next release is May 4, 2017. NOTE: 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.