FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2017 CB 17-177 BEA 17-59 FT-900 (17-09) 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 September 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 $43.5 billion in September, up $0.7 billion from $42.8 billion in August, revised. September exports were $196.8 billion, $2.1 billion more than August exports. September imports were $240.3 billion, $2.8 billion more than August imports. The September increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $0.6 billion to $65.4 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $0.2 billion to $21.9 billion. Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $34.5 billion, or 9.3 percent, from the same period in 2016. Exports increased $93.0 billion or 5.6 percent. Imports increased $127.5 billion or 6.3 percent. Goods and Services Three-Month Moving Averages (Exhibit 2) The average goods and services deficit decreased less than $0.1 billion to $43.3 billion for the three months ending in September. * Average exports of goods and services increased $0.6 billion to $195.4 billion in September. * Average imports of goods and services increased $0.6 billion to $238.6 billion in September. Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $3.0 billion from the three months ending in September 2016. * Average exports of goods and services increased $8.4 billion from September 2016. * Average imports of goods and services increased $11.4 billion from September 2016. Exports (Exhibits 3, 6, and 7) Exports of goods increased $1.8 billion to $130.6 billion in September. Exports of goods on a Census basis increased $2.1 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials increased $1.9 billion. o Crude oil increased $1.1 billion. o Nonmonetary gold increased $0.3 billion. * Other goods increased $0.8 billion. * Consumer goods decreased $0.2 billion. o Pharmaceutical preparations decreased $1.0 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.3 billion. Exports of services increased $0.3 billion to $66.2 billion in September. * Transport increased $0.3 billion. Imports (Exhibits 4, 6, and 8) Imports of goods increased $2.4 billion to $196.0 billion in September. Imports of goods on a Census basis increased $2.5 billion. * Capital goods increased $1.5 billion. o Semiconductors increased $0.5 billion. o Civilian aircraft increased $0.3 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials increased $1.1 billion. o Other petroleum products increased $0.7 billion. * Automotive vehicles, parts, and engines decreased $0.6 billion. o Passenger cars decreased $0.5 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.1 billion. Imports of services increased $0.4 billion to $44.3 billion in September. * Transport increased $0.3 billion. Real Goods in 2009 Dollars – Census Basis (Exhibit 11) The real goods deficit increased less than $0.1 billion to $62.2 billion in September. * Real exports of goods increased $0.9 billion to $125.7 billion. * Real imports of goods increased $1.0 billion to $187.9 billion. Revisions Revisions to August exports * Exports of goods were revised down $0.4 billion. * Exports of services were revised down $0.2 billion. Revisions to August imports * Imports of goods were revised down less than $0.1 billion. * Imports of services were revised down $0.2 billion. Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (Exhibit 19) The September figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong ($2.7), South and Central America ($2.2), Brazil ($0.8), United Kingdom ($0.7), Singapore ($0.7), OPEC ($0.6), Saudi Arabia ($0.6), and Canada ($0.1). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($29.9), European Union ($14.6), Germany ($5.9), Japan ($5.9), Mexico ($5.1), Italy ($2.9), South Korea ($2.4), India ($2.3), Taiwan ($1.5), and France ($1.2). * The deficit with Germany increased $1.1 billion to $5.9 billion in September. Exports increased less than $0.1 billion to $4.5 billion and imports increased $1.1 billion to $10.4 billion. * The deficit with India increased $0.7 billion to $2.3 billion in September. Exports decreased $0.3 billion to $2.1 billion and imports increased $0.4 billion to $4.4 billion. * The balance with members of OPEC shifted from a deficit of $0.8 billion to a surplus of $0.6 billion in September. Exports increased $1.0 billion to $5.2 billion and imports decreased $0.4 billion to $4.6 billion. NOTICE Effects of 2017 Atlantic Hurricanes on U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services The effects of the recent hurricanes are embedded in the source data that the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the U.S. Census Bureau use to produce trade in goods and services statistics. However, these effects generally cannot be isolated, and thus, BEA and the Census Bureau cannot separately quantify the impacts of the hurricanes. The impacts of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria are reflected in the source data underlying this “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: September 2017” report and will be reflected in subsequent reports until normal trade activities resume in affected areas. Goods Below is information on the collection of statistics on trade in goods by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and possible scenarios for shipments directly impacted by the hurricanes, along with information regarding statistical procedures used to produce trade statistics. * Transactions that are cleared through a customs port are included in the trade statistics per normal procedures. However, there may be instances in which power outages or inaccessibility to buildings delay reporting by affected filers. * During port closures, export and import shipments may be diverted, amended, or canceled. Diverted import shipments may enter through another U.S. port or be transshipped through Mexico. * The Census Bureau processes any corrections as usual per Census Bureau revision policy (www.census.gov/foreign-trade/guide/revisions.html). * Exports to and imports from a foreign country that leave or enter the U.S. customs territory in the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico are included in U.S. international trade statistics. For more information, see the “U.S. Trade with Puerto Rico and U.S. Possessions” section of the Guide to Foreign Trade Statistics (www.census.gov/foreign-trade/guide/sec2.html#possessions). For further CBP guidance, please visit CBP’s Cargo Systems Messaging Service (apps.cbp.gov/csms/csms.asp?display_page=1) and search “hurricane.” Census Bureau reports on trade through the Gulf Coast ports and on trade through Southeast ports are available at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/specialreports/gulfcoastports.pdf and www.census.gov/foreign-trade/specialreports/southeastports.pdf. Additional U.S. port data are available on USA Trade Online (usatrade.census.gov/) and on the International Trade API (www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/international-trade.html). If you have questions, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov. Services While BEA cannot separately quantify the impacts of the hurricanes on any specific service category, there are several possible impacts of the hurricanes on U.S. trade in services. For example, transport services may be affected by port closures and by diverted shipments. Travel expenditures and other services trade may be affected to the extent that service activities are interrupted. The effects of the hurricanes on insurance services, meanwhile, are likely to be small because BEA uses normal losses, rather than actual losses, to measure insurance services. For more information, see “What are the effects of hurricanes and other disasters on the international economic accounts? (www.bea.gov/faq/index.cfm?faq_id=53&searchQuery=&start=0&cat_id=0)” The September trade in services statistics in this release are based on limited source data. More complete source data will be incorporated following the schedule outlined in “Revision Procedure (Goods on a BOP Basis and Services)” on page A-6 of this release. If you have questions, please contact BEA, Balance of Payments Division, at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov. 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 2018, see the information section on page A-1 of this release. The next release is December 5, 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.