EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 CB 18-69, BEA 18-21 Goods Data Inquiries Goods Media Inquiries Services Data and Media Inquiries U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Economic Indicators Division Public Information Office Balance of Payments Division International Trade (301) 763-3030 Data: (301) 278-9128 (301) 763-2311 pio@census.gov Media: (301) 278-9003 eid.international.trade.data@census.gov InternationalAccounts@bea.gov U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services March 2018 The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $49.0 billion in March, down $8.8 billion from $57.7 billion in February, revised. [--CHART IMAGE--] Exports, Imports, and Balance (exhibit 1) March exports were $208.5 billion, $4.2 billion more than February exports. March imports were $257.5 billion, $4.6 billion less than February imports. The March decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $7.5 billion to $69.5 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $1.3 billion to $20.5 billion. Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $25.5 billion, or 18.5 percent, from the same period in 2017. Exports increased $39.2 billion or 6.8 percent. Imports increased $64.7 billion or 9.1 percent. Three-Month Moving Averages (exhibit 2) The average goods and services deficit decreased $1.7 billion to $54.5 billion for the three months ending in March. * Average exports increased $1.6 billion to $204.6 billion in March. * Average imports decreased less than $0.1 billion to $259.1 billion in March. Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $8.5 billion from the three months ending in March 2017. * Average exports increased $13.1 billion from March 2017. * Average imports increased $21.6 billion from March 2017. Exports (exhibits 3, 6, and 7) Exports of goods increased $3.7 billion to $140.9 billion in March. Exports of goods on a Census basis increased $3.9 billion. * Capital goods increased $1.9 billion. o Civilian aircraft increased $1.9 billion. * Foods, feeds, and beverages increased $1.0 billion. o Soybeans increased $0.5 billion. o Corn increased $0.3 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials increased $0.9 billion. o Crude oil increased $0.4 billion. o Other petroleum products increased $0.3 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.2 billion. Exports of services increased $0.4 billion to $67.6 billion in March. * Maintenance and repair services increased $0.1 billion. * Travel (for all purposes including education) increased $0.1 billion. * Transport increased $0.1 billion. Imports (exhibits 4, 6, and 8) Imports of goods decreased $3.7 billion to $210.4 billion in March. Imports of goods on a Census basis decreased $3.6 billion. * Capital goods decreased $1.5 billion. o Computer accessories decreased $0.5 billion. o Telecommunications equipment decreased $0.5 billion. o Semiconductors decreased $0.5 billion. * Consumer goods decreased $0.9 billion. o Toys, games, and sporting goods decreased $0.7 billion. o Televisions and video equipment decreased $0.7 billion. * Industrial supplies and materials decreased $0.7 billlion. o Crude oil decreased $0.5 billion. Net balance of payments adjustments decreased $0.1 billion. Imports of services decreased $0.9 billion to $47.1 billion in March. * Charges for the use of intellectual property decreased $0.9 billion. Charges for February included payments for the rights to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. * Transport decreased $0.1 billion. Real Goods in 2009 Dollars – Census Basis (exhibit 11) The real goods deficit decreased $6.9 billion to $62.1 billion in March. * Real exports of goods increased $3.7 billion to $133.2 billion. * Real imports of goods decreased $3.1 billion to $195.3 billion. Revisions Revisions to February exports * Exports of goods were revised down less than $0.1 billion. * Exports of services were revised down less than $0.1 billion. Revisions to February imports * Imports of goods were revised down $0.1 billion. * Imports of services were revised up $0.2 billion. Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (exhibit 19) The March figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong ($3.3), South and Central America ($3.1), United Kingdom ($1.2), Brazil ($0.8), and Singapore ($0.3). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($35.4), European Union ($12.4), Mexico ($7.0), Japan ($5.9), Germany ($5.0), Italy ($2.3), France ($1.5), OPEC ($1.4), India ($1.4), Taiwan ($1.3), South Korea ($1.2), Saudi Arabia ($0.3), and Canada ($0.2). * The deficit with Germany decreased $1.6 billion to $5.0 billion in March. Exports increased $0.4 billion to $5.1 billion and imports decreased $1.2 billion to $10.1 billion. * The deficit with members of OPEC decreased $0.8 billion to $1.4 billion in March. Exports increased $0.4 billion to $4.9 billion and imports decreased $0.4 billion to $6.3 billion. * The deficit with China increased $0.7 billion to $35.4 billion in March. Exports increased $1.6 billion to $12.4 billion and imports increased $2.3 billion to $47.7 billion. * * * 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, and revision procedures, see the explanatory notes in this release. The full release can be found at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/index.html or www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/trade/tradnewsrelease.htm. The full schedule is available in the Census Bureau’s Economic Briefing Room at www.census.gov/economic-indicators/. * * * Next release: June 6, 2018, at 8:30 A.M. EDT U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: April 2018 * * * Notice Upcoming Updates to Goods and Services On June 6, 2018, 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 2018” (FT-900) and “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual Revision” (FT-900 Annual Revision). With these releases, statistics on trade in goods on a Census basis will be revised beginning with 2015, and statistics on trade in goods on a balance of payments (BOP) basis and on trade in services will be revised beginning with 2010. The revised statistics for goods on a BOP basis and for services will also be included in the “U.S. International Transactions: First Quarter 2018 and Annual Update” report and in the international transactions interactive database, both to be released by BEA on June 20, 2018. Revised statistics on trade in goods on a Census basis will reflect 1) corrections and adjustments to previously published not seasonally adjusted statistics, 2) reclassifications of several end-use commodities, and 3) recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments. In addition to revisions to goods on a Census basis, revised statistics on goods on a BOP basis will reflect revised BOP adjustments, which are adjustments that BEA applies to goods on a Census basis to convert them to a BOP basis. With this annual update, BOP adjustments for estimating exports through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program will be discontinued because the Census-basis goods data now provide more complete coverage of these exports. BEA will use the Census-basis exports as the source for FMS goods for statistics beginning with 2010. Other revisions to BOP adjustments will reflect newly available and revised source data and recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments beginning with 2015. For more information on BOP adjustments, see the “Goods (balance of payments basis)” section in the explanatory notes. Revised statistics on trade in services will reflect 1) a new method for estimating goods and services transferred through military grant programs, 2) newly available and revised source data, primarily from BEA’s surveys of international services transactions, 3) recalculated seasonal adjustments, and 4) revised temporal distributions of quarterly source data to monthly statistics (see the “Services” section in the explanatory notes for more information). Exports will be revised beginning with 2010 and imports will be revised beginning with 2013. An article previewing BEA’s 2018 annual update of the international transactions accounts will appear in the May 2018 issue of the Survey of Current Business. If you have questions, please contact BEA, Balance of Payments Division, at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov. Upcoming Change to the Real (Chained-Dollar) Series With the releases of the FT-900 and the FT-900 Annual Revision on June 6, 2018—and consistent with the release of the upcoming comprehensive update of the national income and product accounts—(www.bea.gov/scb/2018/04-april/0418-preview-2018-comprehensive-nipa-update.htm) the reference year for the chained-dollar series will be updated to 2012 from 2009 to reference the time series on prices from a more recent year. The historical chained-dollar series (www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/historical/index.html), which begin in 1994, will also be revised to reflect the new reference year. See the “Adjustments for price change” section in the explanatory notes for more information. 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.