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                            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
                               December 2007

Goods and Services

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the
Department of Commerce, announced today that total December exports of $144.3
billion and imports of $203.1 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit
of $58.8 billion, down from $63.1 billion in November, revised.  December exports
were $2.2 billion more than November exports of $142.2 billion.  December imports
were $2.2 billion less than November imports of $205.3 billion.

In December, the goods deficit decreased $4.6 billion from November to $68.2 billion,
and the services surplus decreased $0.2 billion to $9.5 billion.  Exports of goods
increased $2.3 billion to $103.1 billion, and imports of goods decreased $2.3 billion
to $171.3 billion.  Exports of services decreased $0.1 billion to $41.2 billion, and
imports of services increased $0.1 billion to $31.8 billion.

In December, the goods and services deficit was down $1.5 billion from December 2006.
Exports were up $17.2 billion, or 13.6 percent, and imports were up $15.7 billion, or
8.4 percent.

Goods

The November to December change in exports of goods reflected increases in capital
goods ($2.0 billion); industrial supplies and materials ($1.0 billion); and consumer
goods ($0.6 billion).  Decreases occurred in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines
($0.9 billion); other goods ($0.6 billion); and foods, feeds, and beverages
($0.1 billion).

The November to December change in imports of goods reflected decreases in automotive
vehicles, parts, and engines ($2.1 billion); consumer goods ($0.5 billion); other
goods ($0.4 billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.2 billion); and capital goods
($0.1 billion).  An increase occurred in industrial supplies and materials
($0.8 billion).

The December 2006 to December 2007 change in exports of goods reflected increases in
industrial supplies and materials ($5.2 billion); capital goods ($3.8 billion); foods,
feeds, and beverages ($2.1 billion); consumer goods ($1.5 billion); automotive vehicles,
parts, and engines ($0.6 billion); and other goods ($0.1 billion).

The December 2006 to December 2007 change in imports of goods reflected increases
in industrial supplies and materials ($11.7 billion); capital goods ($2.1 billion);
consumer goods ($0.9 billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.4 billion); and other
goods ($0.1 billion).  A decrease occurred in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines
($2.2 billion).

Services

Services exports decreased $0.1 billion from November to December.  The decrease
was more than accounted for by decreases in transfers under U.S. military sales
contracts and travel.  Increases in other private services (which includes items
such as business, professional, and technical services, insurance services, and
financial services), passenger fares, and royalties and license fees were partly
offsetting.  Changes in other categories of services exports were small.

Services imports increased $0.1 billion from November to December.  The increase
was more than accounted for by increases in passenger fares and other private
services.  A decrease in other transportation (which includes freight and port
services) was partly offsetting.  Changes in other categories of services imports
were small.

From December 2006 to December 2007, services exports increased $3.6 billion.
The largest increases were in travel($1.3 billion) and other private services
($0.9 billion).

From December 2006 to December 2007, services imports increased $2.5 billion.
The largest increases were in other private services ($1.1 billion), travel
($0.3 billion), and other transportation ($0.3 billion).

Goods and Services Moving Average

For the three months ending in December, exports of goods and services averaged
$142.6 billion, while imports of goods and services averaged $202.6 billion,
resulting in an average trade deficit of $60.0 billion.  For the three months
ending in November, the average trade deficit was $59.5 billion, reflecting average
exports of $141.2 billion and average imports of $200.8 billion.

Selected Not Seasonally Adjusted Goods Details

The December figures showed surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong
$1.1 ($1.0 for November), Singapore $1.0 ($0.6), Australia $0.9 ($1.0), Brazil
$0.6 ($0.1), and Egypt $0.3 ($0.3).  Deficits were recorded, in billions of
dollars, with China $18.8 ($24.0), OPEC $12.3 ($11.8), Europe $9.2 ($12.0), the
European Union $7.8 ($10.4), Japan $6.6 ($7.1), Mexico $6.5 ($7.6), Canada $4.7
($4.7), Korea $0.4 ($1.2), and Taiwan $0.3 ($1.3).

Advanced technology products (ATP) exports were $24.8 billion in December and
imports were $27.6 billion, resulting in a deficit of $2.8 billion.  December
exports were $1.2 billion more than the $23.6 billion in November, while imports
were $2.4 billion less than the $30.0 billion in November.

Revisions

Goods carry-over in December was $0.3 billion (0.3 percent) for exports and $1.1
billion (0.7 percent) for imports.  For November, revised export carry-over was
$0.1 billion (0.1 percent), revised down from $0.3 billion (0.3 percent).  For
November, revised import carry-over was $0.4 billion (0.2 percent), revised
down from $1.3 billion (0.7 percent).

The seasonally adjusted goods data for January through November were also revised
to align the seasonally adjusted months with the annual totals.

Services exports for November were virtually unrevised at $41.4 billion.  Services
imports for November were revised down $0.1 billion to $31.7 billion.  The revision
was more than accounted for by a downward revision_in_travel.

                           Annual Summary for 2007

Goods and Services

For 2007, exports of $1,621.8 billion and imports of $2,333.4 billion resulted
in a goods and services deficit of $711.6 billion, $46.9 billion less than the
2006 deficit of $758.5 billion.  For goods, exports were $1,149.3 billion and
imports were $1,964.9 billion, resulting in a goods deficit of $815.6 billion,
$22.7 billion less than the 2006 deficit of $838.3 billion.  For services,
exports were $472.5 billion and imports were $368.5 billion, resulting in a
services surplus of $104.0 billion, $24.2 billion more than the 2006 surplus
of $79.7 billion.

The goods and services deficit was $711.6 billion in 2007, down from $758.5
billion in 2006.  As a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product, the goods and
services deficit was 5.1 percent in 2007, down from 5.7 percent in 2006.

Goods

For 2007, on a Census basis, exports of goods were up $126.7 billion from 2006.
Increases occurred in industrial supplies and materials ($39.6 billion); capital
goods ($32.1 billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($18.2 billion); consumer goods
($16.4 billion); automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($13.8 billion); and other
goods ($6.6 billion).

For 2007, on a Census basis, imports of goods were up $99.7 billion from 2006.
Increases occurred in consumer goods ($32.3 billion); industrial supplies and
materials ($28.9 billion); capital goods ($26.6 billion); foods, feeds, and
beverages ($6.8 billion); other goods ($2.9 billion); and automotive vehicles,
parts, and engines ($2.3 billion).

Services

For 2007, exports of services were $472.5 billion, up $49.9 billion from 2006.
Increases occurred in other private services ($22.8 billion), which includes
items such as business, professional, and technical services, insurance services,
and financial services; travel ($12.1 billion); royalties and license fees
($8.1 billion); other transportation ($5.3 billion), which includes freight and
port services; and passenger fares ($2.7 billion).  A decrease occurred in transfers
under U.S. military sales contracts ($1.2 billion).  U.S. Government miscellaneous
services were virtually unchanged.

For 2007, imports of services were $368.5 billion, up $25.7 billion from 2006.
Increases occurred in other private services ($15.3 billion); travel ($4.3
billion); other transportation ($1.9 billion); royalties and license fees
($1.6 billion); direct defense expenditures ($1.5 billion); and passenger fares
($1.0 billion).  U.S. Government miscellaneous services were virtually unchanged.

For detailed descriptions of the types of transactions included in each of the
services categories, see Information on Goods and Services starting on page 29
of this release.

                                  Notice

Change to FT-900 Exhibit 18

Effective with the January 2008 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
release on March 11, 2008, Exhibit 18  Exports and Imports of Motor Vehicles and
Parts by Selected Countries will be revised.  The composition of the three product
groups will be aligned to better match the Bureau of Economic Analysis End-Use
classification.  New headings will read: Passenger Cars; Trucks, Buses, Special
Purpose Vehicles; and Parts.

Changes to Country Groupings and Areas

Effective with the January 2008 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
release on March 11, 2008, country groupings and areas will be revised to reflect
changes for the Euro area and OPEC as specified below.

Euro Area

Cyprus and Malta will be added to the Euro area in exhibit 14 of the FT-900 report
and exhibit 6 of the FT-900 supplement.  These changes take effect with the January
2008 statistics.  The statistics for prior time periods remain unchanged.

OPEC

In December 2007, Ecuador was reinstated as a member of OPEC.  Ecuador will be
added to OPEC in exhibit 14 of the FT-900 report and exhibits 3 and 6 of the FT-900
supplement.  These changes take effect beginning with the revised December 2007
statistics.  The statistics for prior time periods remain unchanged.