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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
                                         April 2012


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 April exports of $182.9 billion and imports of $233.0 billion resulted
in a goods and services deficit of $50.1 billion, down from $52.6 billion in March, revised.  April
exports were $1.5 billion less than March exports of $184.4 billion.  April imports were $4.1 billion
less than March imports of $237.1 billion.

In April, the goods deficit decreased $2.7 billion from March to $64.8 billion, and the services
surplus decreased $0.1 billion from March to $14.8 billion.  Exports of goods decreased $1.5 billion
to $130.7 billion, and imports of goods decreased $4.1 billion to $195.5 billion.  Exports of services
decreased $0.1 billion to $52.2 billion, and imports of services increased $0.1 billion to $37.5
billion.

The goods and services deficit increased $6.5 billion from April 2011 to April 2012.  Exports were
up $7.2 billion, or 4.1 percent, and imports were up $13.8 billion, or 6.3 percent.

Goods (Census Basis)

The March to April decrease in exports of goods reflected decreases in capital goods ($1.5 billion);
industrial supplies and materials ($1.0 billion); and other goods ($0.6 billion). Increases occurred
in foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.7 billion); automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($0.4 billion);
and consumer goods ($0.2 billion).

The March to April decrease in imports of goods reflected decreases in capital goods ($2.0 billion);
industrial supplies and materials ($0.6 billion); other goods ($0.5 billion); consumer goods ($0.5
billion); and automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($0.4 billion). Foods, feeds, and beverages
were virtually unchanged.

The April 2011 to April 2012 increase in exports of goods reflected increases in capital goods
($2.2 billion); automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($1.7 billion); consumer goods ($0.4 billion);
other goods ($0.4 billion); and industrial supplies and materials ($0.2 billion). Foods, feeds,
and beverages were virtually unchanged.

The April 2011 to April 2012 increase in imports of goods reflected increases in automotive vehicles,
parts, and engines ($5.1 billion); capital goods ($4.0 billion); industrial supplies and materials
($2.1 billion); other goods ($0.4 billion); and foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.3 billion).  A
decrease occurred in consumer goods ($0.3 billion).

Services

Exports of services decreased $0.1 billion from March to April.  The decrease was more than accounted
for by a decrease in other private services, which includes items such as business, professional,
and technical services, insurance services, and financial services.  Changes in the other categories
of services exports were small.

Imports of services increased $0.1 billion from March to April.  The increase was more than accounted
for by an increase in other private services. Changes in the other categories of services imports
were small.

The April 2011 to April 2012 increase in exports of services was $2.2 billion.  The largest increases
were in travel ($1.1 billion), passenger fares ($0.4 billion), and royalties and license fees ($0.3
billion).

The April 2011 to April 2012 increase in imports of services was $2.4 billion.  The largest increases
were in other private services ($0.8 billion), travel ($0.6 billion), and royalties and license
fees ($0.5 billion).  Within other private services, the largest increase was in business, professional,
and technical services.

Goods and Services Moving Average

For the three months ending in April, exports of goods and services averaged $182.4 billion, while
imports of goods and services averaged $231.8 billion, resulting in an average trade deficit of
$49.4 billion.  For the three months ending in March, the average trade deficit was $50.3 billion,
reflecting average exports of $181.0 billion and average imports of $231.3 billion.

Selected Not Seasonally Adjusted Goods Details

The April figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with Hong Kong $3.3 ($3.0 for March),
Australia $1.6 ($2.0), Singapore $0.7 ($0.9), and Egypt $0.2 ($0.2).  Deficits were recorded, in
billions of dollars, with China $24.6 ($21.7), OPEC $11.5 ($9.1), European Union $8.7 ($9.8), Japan
$6.3 ($7.1), Mexico $5.4 ($6.1), Germany $4.6 ($5.5), Canada $3.3 ($3.0), Venezuela $2.1 ($2.7),
Ireland $1.9 ($2.1), Korea $1.8 ($0.6), Nigeria $1.7 ($1.0), and Taiwan $1.3 ($0.7).

Advanced technology products exports were $23.7 billion in April and imports were $30.3 billion,
resulting in a deficit of $6.7 billion.  April exports were $4.2 billion less than the $27.9 billion
in March, while April imports were $4.8 billion less than the $35.1 billion in March.

Revisions

Exports and imports of goods and services for all months through March 2012 shown in this release
reflect the incorporation of annual revisions to the goods and services series.  See the "Notice"
in this release for additional information.

Census Basis (not seasonally adjusted)

For March, exports of goods were revised up $0.1 billion and imports of goods were virtually unrevised.
Goods carry-over in April was $0.1 billion (0.1 percent) for exports and $0.9 billion (0.5 percent)
for imports.  For March, revised export carry-over was virtually zero.  For March, revised import
carry-over was $0.1 billion (0.1 percent).

Balance of Payments Basis (seasonally adjusted)

For March, exports of goods were revised down $0.5 billion and imports of goods were revised down
$0.6 billion.

For March, exports of services were revised down $1.8 billion, reflecting downward revisions in
other private services and royalties and license fees.  For March, imports of services were revised
down $0.9 billion, reflecting a downward revision in other private services.


NOTICE

In this news release and in the accompanying "U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual
Revision for 2011" release, the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) are publishing revised statistics on both U.S. trade in goods and U.S. trade in services
for January 2009 to March 2012.  The revised statistics will also appear in "U.S International
Transactions: First Quarter 2012" and in the annual revision of the U.S. international transactions
accounts, both to be released by BEA on June 14, 2012.

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 down 0.6 percent for 2009, was revised
down 1.1 percent for 2010, and was virtually unrevised for 2011.  The goods deficit was revised
down for 2009 and 2010 and up for 2011; the services surplus was revised up for all three years.
These revisions reflect newly available and revised source data and minor improvements to estimation
methodologies.

Goods

Goods on a Census basis for 2011 were revised to 1) redistribute monthly data that arrived too
late for inclusion in the month of transaction and were initially included in the month in which
the data were received and 2) apply corrections to previously published 2011 statistics.  In addition,
statistics for 2009-2011 were revised as a result of the reclassification of several commodities
to end-use categories; these reclassifications were introduced in March 2012 beginning with the
January 2012 statistics.  Seasonal and trading-day adjustments were then recalculated, and the
seasonally adjusted current-dollar series were revised for January 2009 to March 2012.

Census has revised the real chained-dollar series to 1) update selected seasonally adjusted export
and import prices back to 2002 and 2) incorporate improved quality-adjusted price indexes for capital
goods (telecommunications equipment) back to 2002.  The historical chained-dollar series were revised 
back to 1994 because the reference year (2005) was revised.  These changes improve consistency between 
the Census chained-dollar data and the chained-dollar data published by BEA in the National Income 
and Product Accounts.  For related changes implemented by BEA, see "Annual Revision of the National 
Income and Product Accounts" in the August 2011 Survey of Current Business.

Balance of payments (BOP) adjustments - adjustments that BEA applies to goods on a Census basis
to convert them to a BOP basis - for January 2009 to March 2012 were revised to introduce new
adjustments to revalue exports and imports of recorded smart cards from media value to market value
and to incorporate revised source data on other adjustments.  These adjustments are combined and
presented as "Net Adjustments" in this release.

Services

Services exports and imports for January 2009 to March 2012 were revised mostly as a result of
newly available and revised source data, primarily from BEA's surveys of international services
transactions.