FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2017 CB 17-83 BEA 17-25 FT-900 (17-04) 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 April 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 $47.6 billion in April, up $2.3 billion from $45.3 billion in March, revised. April exports were $191.0 billion, $0.5 billion less than March exports. April imports were $238.6 billion, $1.9 billion more than March imports. The April increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $2.3 billion to $68.4 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of less than $0.1 billion to $20.8 billion. Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $22.1 billion, or 13.4 percent, from the same period in 2016. Exports increased $44.3 billion or 6.1 percent. Imports increased $66.4 billion or 7.5 percent. Goods and Services Three-Month Moving Averages (Exhibit 2) The average goods and services deficit decreased $0.4 billion to $45.9 billion for the three months ending in April. * Average exports of goods and services decreased $0.2 billion to $191.4 billion in April. * Average imports of goods and services decreased $0.6 billion to $237.3 billion in April. Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $5.6 billion from the three months ending in April 2016. * Average exports of goods and services increased $10.5 billion from April 2016. * Average imports of goods and services increased $16.0 billion from April 2016. Exports (Exhibits 3, 6, and 7) Exports of goods decreased $0.5 billion to $126.9 billion in April. Exports of goods on a Census basis decreased $0.4 billion. * Consumer goods decreased $0.7 billion. o Artwork, antiques, stamps, and other collectibles decreased $0.4 billion. o Pharmaceutical preparations decreased $0.2 billion. * Automotive vehicles, parts, and engines decreased $0.5 billion. o Passenger cars decreased $0.3 billion. * Foods, feeds, and beverages increased $0.6 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.2 billion. Exports of services increased $0.1 billion to $64.0 billion in April. * Travel (for all purposes including education) increased $0.1 billion. * Transport, which includes freight and port services and passenger fares, decreased $0.1 billion. Imports (Exhibits 4, 6, and 8) Imports of goods increased $1.8 billion to $195.3 billion in April. Imports of goods on a Census basis increased $1.8 billion. * Consumer goods increased $1.9 billion. o Cell phones and other household goods increased $1.8 billion. o Artwork, antiques, stamps, and other collectibles increased $0.5 billion. * Capital goods increased $0.9 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials decreased $1.5 billion. o Crude oil decreased $1.9 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.1 billion. Imports of services increased $0.1 billion to $43.3 billion in April. * Travel (for all purposes including education) increased $0.1 billion. * Transport decreased $0.1 billion. Real Goods in 2009 Dollars – Census Basis (Exhibit 11) The real goods deficit increased $2.9 billion to $63.5 billion in April. * Real exports of goods decreased $0.5 billion to $123.9 billion. * Real imports of goods increased $2.4 billion to $187.4 billion. Revisions Exports and imports of goods and services for all months through March 2017 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 $1.2 billion. * Exports of services were revised downward $0.7 billion. Revisions to March imports * Imports of goods were revised upward $1.8 billion. * Imports of services were revised upward $0.3 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 ($2.7), Hong Kong ($2.0), Singapore ($0.9), Brazil ($0.3), and United Kingdom ($0.2). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($32.1), European Union ($13.2), Mexico ($6.4), Germany ($5.5), Japan ($5.0), Italy ($3.0), Canada ($2.6), India ($1.6), South Korea ($1.5), Taiwan ($1.3), France ($1.2), OPEC ($1.1), and Saudi Arabia ($0.2). * The deficit with Italy increased $1.0 billion to $3.0 billion in April. Exports decreased $0.2 billion to $1.4 billion and imports increased $0.8 billion to $4.4 billion. * The deficit with France increased $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion in April. Exports decreased $0.7 billion to $2.6 billion and imports increased $0.2 billion to $3.7 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 ($19.5), Hong Kong ($10.0), Brazil ($6.5), Singapore ($5.1), and United Kingdom ($3.2). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($81.9), European Union ($24.2), Mexico ($17.7), Germany ($17.2), Japan ($14.3), Italy ($7.3), India ($6.1), South Korea ($3.8), France ($2.8), Taiwan ($2.2), Canada ($1.2), Saudi Arabia ($0.5), and OPEC ($0.2). * The deficit with China increased $4.2 billion to $81.9 billion in the first quarter. Exports increased $0.6 billion to $45.4 billion and imports increased $4.8 billion to $127.3 billion. * The balance with Saudi Arabia shifted from a surplus of $2.0 billion to a deficit of $0.5 billion in the first quarter. Exports decreased $0.2 billion to $6.6 billion and imports increased $2.3 billion to $7.1 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, revision procedures, and scheduled release dates through December 2017, see the information section on page A-1 of this release. The next release is July 6, 2017. * 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 Updates to Goods and Services In this release and in the accompanying “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual Revision for 2016 (www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/trade/2017/trad1317.htm)” release (FT-900 Annual Revision), the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are publishing revised statistics on trade in goods and services for January 2014 to March 2017. The revised statistics 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. 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 upward less than 0.1 percent for 2014 and 2015 and revised upward 0.8 percent for 2016. The goods deficit was revised downward for 2014 and 2015 and was revised upward for 2016; the services surplus was revised downward for all three years. 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) reclassifications of several end-use commodities, 3) revised seasonal and trading-day adjustments, and 4) 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 and in the FT-900 Annual Revision. Services Revised statistics on trade in services 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 the FT-900). If you have questions about this update, please contact BEA’s Balance of Payments Division at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov. Updates to the Real (Chained-Dollar) Series With this release and the release of the accompanying FT-900 Annual Revision, the Census Bureau has revised export and import prices of telecommunications equipment beginning with 2002 to incorporate updated prices from the Federal Reserve Board’s Communications Equipment Price Indexes. This change affects the categories Total Census Basis, Capital Goods, and Other Goods in Exhibit 10 of this release and in Exhibits 9 and 9a of the FT-900 Annual Revision and the categories Total Census Basis and Non-Petroleum in Exhibit 11 of this release, and in Exhibit 10 of the FT-900 Annual Revision. The historical chained-dollar series, which begin in 1994, have also been revised as a result of the recalculated statistics for the base year (2009). If you have questions or need additional information, please see the Guide to Foreign Trade Statistics (www.census.gov/foreign-trade/guide/sec2.html#constant_dollar) or contact the Census Bureau’s Economic Indicators Division on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov. Change to OPEC With this release, statistics for 2017 for the area grouping “OPEC” in Exhibits 20, 20a, and 20b of the FT-900 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.