U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
NEWS
U.S. Department of Commerce * Washington, D.C. 20230

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services

Annual Revision for 2015

NOTICE

Revisions to Goods and Services

In this release and in the accompanying “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: April
2016” release (FT-900), 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 2013 to March 2016.
The revised statistics will also be reflected in the “U.S. International Transactions: First
Quarter 2016 and Annual Revisions” report and in the international transactions interactive
database, both to be released by BEA on June 16, 2016.

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 downward 3.5 percent for 2013, downward
3.6 percent for 2014, and downward 7.3 percent for 2015. The goods deficit was nearly unrevised
for 2013 and was revised upward for 2014 and 2015; the services surplus was revised upward 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) recalculated seasonal and
trading-day adjustments, and 3) 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.

Services

Revised statistics on trade in services reflect 1) newly available and revised source data primarily
from BEA surveys, including the results of BEA’s benchmark survey on financial services, and from
U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the number of foreign residents traveling in the United
States that resulted in revisions to exports of both travel and transport services, 2) a refinement
to the methodology for estimating average expenditures by travelers, 3) revised seasonal adjustments,
and 4) revised temporal distributions of quarterly source data to monthly statistics (see the
information section on page A-4 of the FT-900).

A preview of BEA’s 2016 annual revision of the international transactions accounts was published
in the May 2016 Survey of Current Business. If you have questions,
please contact BEA’s Balance of Payments Division at (InternationalAccounts@bea.gov).

Changes to Country and Area Presentation

With this release and the release of the accompanying FT-900, the area grouping “Newly Industrialized
Countries” has been removed from all relevant exhibits, and Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea,
and Taiwan are presented in selected exhibits. These changes affect the following exhibits:

   * Exhibits 13, 15a, 18, 19, 19a, and 19b of the FT-900 Annual Revision
   * Exhibits 14, 14a, 16a, 19, 20, 20a, and 20b of the FT-900
   * Exhibits 4 and 4a of the FT-900 Supplement

New U.S. Census Bureau Report on Advance Economic Indicators

On July 28, 2016, at 8:30 a.m., the Census Bureau will introduce a new release, “Advance Economic
Indicators Report.” This summary level report will combine the release of advance statistics on
trade in goods, which are currently presented in the “Advance Report: U.S. International Trade
in Goods” release, with the release of new advance estimates for retail and wholesale inventories.
With this new report, the Census Bureau will discontinue the current version of the “Advance
Report: U.S. International Trade in Goods” release. The new report will:

   * Be released monthly, 25 to 29 calendar days after the close of the reference month.
   * Consist of three tables:
      o Table 1. U.S. International Trade in Goods by Principal End-Use Category, which presents
        levels and percent changes for the advance statistics on trade in goods by principal
        end-use categories. This table will include statistics for the reference month, the prior
        two months, and the same reference month in the prior year. For example, the July 28
        release will include statistics for June 2016, May 2016, April 2016, and June 2015.
      o Table 2. Levels and Percent Changes for Inventories, which presents levels and percent
        changes for the advance estimates for retail and wholesale inventories. This table will
        include statistics for the reference month, the prior month, and the same reference month
        in the prior year. For example, the July 28 release will include statistics for June 2016,
        May 2016, and June 2015.
      o Table 3. Estimated Measures of Sampling Variability, which presents estimated measures
        of sampling variability for the advance estimates for retail and wholesale inventories.
        This table will include statistics for the reference month, the prior month, and the same
        reference month in the prior year. For example, the July 28 release will include statistics
        for June 2016, May 2016, and June 2015.
   * Contain both seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted statistics and estimates.
   * Include statistics for international trade in goods on a Census basis by principal end-use
     category.
   * Not include statistics for trade in goods on a balance of payments basis or statistics for
     trade in services, which are both featured in the FT-900.
   * Include estimates for total retail inventories, for total retail inventories excluding motor
     vehicle and parts dealers, and for retail inventories for motor vehicle and parts dealers.
   * Include estimates for total merchant wholesale inventories excluding manufacturers’ sales
     branches and offices, for total merchant wholesale durable goods inventories, and for total
     merchant wholesale nondurable goods inventories.

The release schedule for this report through December 2016 is:

    Statistical Month             Date          Day
       June                     07-28-16        Thu
       July			08-26-16	Fri
       August			09-29-16	Thu
       September		10-26-16	Wed
       October			11-25-16	Fri
       November                 12-29-16        Thu

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic
Indicators Division, as outlined below:

International Trade Indicator Macro Analysis Branch	Retail Indicator Branch
(301) 763-2311						(301) 763-2713
(800) 549-0595, option 4				(800) 327-4389, option 1
(eid.international.trade.data@census.gov)               (eid.retail.indicator.branch@census.gov)

Wholesale Indicator Branch
(301) 763-6856
(800) 327-4389, option 3
(eid.wholesale.indicator.branch@census.gov)

To learn more about the FT-900 and other economic indicators the Census Bureau publishes, join
the Economic Indicators Division for the “Investigating Economic Indicators” Webinar series.
For more information, visit www.census.gov/econ/webinar.