International Trade Data

United States Data | International Data | Historical Data | Trade in Services

U.S. Data

Electronic Data Resources	What's the Harmonized Tariff System (also known as the Harmonized Code)?
USA Trade Online UofC Restricted Easy point and click access to import and export data for the United States. Annual data are available back to 1992. Availability of monthly data varies but is generally only available for the current year. Data can be sorted by country of origin/destination as well as port of entry/exit in the U.S. Data can also be exported to Excel or other spreadsheet programs. USA Trade Online offers detail to the 10 digit Harmonized Code level. TradeStats Express Produced by The Office of Trade and Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. TradeStats Express offers annual import and export data from 1989 - 2003. Data can be retrieved for commodity or trading partner. The database also features statistics on exports broken down by state. Data can be downloaded to Excel and charts and maps can be generated and downloaded as well. TradeStats Express offers detail only to the 2 digit Harmonized Code level. USITC Trade DataWeb Detailed import and export data collected by the U.S. International Trade Commission. Access to the database requires free registration. The site is less user friendly than other sites but it offers monthly import and export data from 1989 to the most current reported data. Creating an account also allows you to create lists of countries and commodities for future searches as well as save queries for future use. Trade DataWeb offers detail to the 10 digit Harmonized Code level.	"The Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) assigns a number to each product that is traded internationally to insure that customs officers and statisticians around the world are referring to the same thing when classifying a product. Almost all countries now use the harmonized tariff system. The Harmonized Tariff System Number, or HTS number, refers to a six digit product-specific code. All countries adhering to the HTS use the same six digit code for each product. Each country, however, can assign on its own four additional numbers, making the entire number 10 digits. The United States does this with its Schedule B system, which is used to describe exports from the U.S. Many countries, though, do not use 10 digits; some use only six or eight." Source: U.S.Government Export Portal http://www.export.gov/scheduleb.html Use Harmonized Codes to search for imports and exports of specific commodities in the electronic resources listed on this page. The U.S. Census Bureau offers a searchable version of Schedule B, which covers exports from the U.S. Use this to find six digit codes for imports or ten digit codes for exports.

Electronic Data Resources

What's the Harmonized Tariff System (also known as the Harmonized Code)?

USA Trade Online UofC Restricted

Easy point and click access to import and export data for the United States. Annual data are available back to 1992. Availability of monthly data varies but is generally only available for the current year. Data can be sorted by country of origin/destination as well as port of entry/exit in the U.S. Data can also be exported to Excel or other spreadsheet programs. USA Trade Online offers detail to the 10 digit Harmonized Code level.

TradeStats Express

Produced by The Office of Trade and Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. TradeStats Express offers annual import and export data from 1989 - 2003. Data can be retrieved for commodity or trading partner. The database also features statistics on exports broken down by state. Data can be downloaded to Excel and charts and maps can be generated and downloaded as well. TradeStats Express offers detail only to the 2 digit Harmonized Code level.

USITC Trade DataWeb

Detailed import and export data collected by the U.S. International Trade Commission. Access to the database requires free registration. The site is less user friendly than other sites but it offers monthly import and export data from 1989 to the most current reported data. Creating an account also allows you to create lists of countries and commodities for future searches as well as save queries for future use. Trade DataWeb offers detail to the 10 digit Harmonized Code level.

"The Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) assigns a number to each product that is traded internationally to insure that customs officers and statisticians around the world are referring to the same thing when classifying a product. Almost all countries now use the harmonized tariff system.
The Harmonized Tariff System Number, or HTS number, refers to a six digit product-specific code. All countries adhering to the HTS use the same six digit code for each product. Each country, however, can assign on its own four additional numbers, making the entire number 10 digits. The United States does this with its Schedule B system, which is used to describe exports from the U.S. Many countries, though, do not use 10 digits; some use only six or eight."
Source: U.S.Government Export Portal
http://www.export.gov/scheduleb.html

Use Harmonized Codes to search for imports and exports of specific commodities in the electronic resources listed on this page. The U.S. Census Bureau offers a searchable version of Schedule B, which covers exports from the U.S. Use this to find six digit codes for imports or ten digit codes for exports.

International Data

Electronic Data Resources
International Financial Statistics UofC Restricted Summary level data of imports and exports at the country level. Data are available as far back as 1948, depending on the country. United Nations Common Database UofC Restricted Many time series of imports and exports reported on an annual basis. Includes totals, breakdowns by partner countries and time series chained by a variety of base values. Availability varies by country but goes back as far as 1962. World Development Indicators Online UofC Restricted Summary level data on imports and exports. Most useful as a source for time series. Also available on CD-ROM at Regenstein Circulation, call number HC59.W62. Direction of Trade Statistics CD-ROM database of statistics on trade between countries. It is summary level only but it can be broken out on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. There are two versions: Direction Of Trade Statistics Historical, 1948-1980 and Direction Of Trade Statistics, which is published monthly and includes data back to 1980. CDs are held at Regenstein Circulation, Call No.: CDRom HF1016.I652 UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) Free resource from the United Nations. Has detailed information on trade between countries at the commodity level. Data are available back as far as 1962 in some cases. Data cannot be downloaded directly. Select "Printable view" and then copy and paste data to Excel. World Trade Organization Trade Statistics Two major parts: online access to International Trade Statistics, an annual statistical compendium, and a Statistics Database, that has summary level data for commodities as well as services. The Statistics Database also includes trade profiles, which give an overview for individual countries. Datastream Datastream has summary level data for imports and exports. Availabilty varies by country. Data are similar to International Financial Statistics, which is available via the Web. Datastream is available on Workstation A-9 in the First Floor Reading Room in Regenstein Library and in the GSB Hyde Park Center Computer Lab.
Print Resources
Direction Of Trade Statistics and Direction Of Trade Statistics Yearbook Statistics on international trade compiled by the International Monetary Fund. The data show imports and exports by country and its trading partners at a summary level. Direction Of Trade Statistics is published monthly and includes the latest six quarters of data. The Yearbook includes the last seven years. Direction Of Trade Statistics Call number HF 91.D591. Current issues in Regenstein Periodicals Reading Room, 2nd floor. Older issues in the stacks. Direction Of Trade Statistics Yearbook Call number HF 91.D591. Current issues in Regenstein Reference, 1st floor Reading Room. Older issues in the stacks. Monthly Statistics of International Trade Produced by the OECD. Contains detailed data on trade for the OECD countries International Trade Statistics Yearbook Published annualy by the United Nations beginning in 1983. Regenstein, Reading Room, Floor 1 Call No.: HF91.U47

Historical Data

Detailed historical data can be harder to find than more recent data. Publications of national statistical agencies such as the U.S. Department of Commerce are often good sources. You can find them in the library catalog. Use the advanced search to search for subject headings like "commerce", "international trade" and combine them with "statistics" and the name of a specific country as a subject heading.

We recommend the following titles as starting points for finding historical trade data:

Datapedia of the United States : American History in Numbers
Regenstein Reference Express, First Floor Reading near the Reference Desk, Call Number HA202 .K87 2004
International Historical Statistics : the Americas, 1750-2000
Regenstein Reference, 1st floor Reading Room, Call Number HA175.M55 2003
International Historical Statistics: Europe, 1750-2000
Regenstein Reference, 1st floor Reading Room, Call Number HA1107.M5 2003
International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania, 1750-200
Regenstein Reference, 1st floor Reading Room, Call Number HA4675 .M552 2003

Trade in Services

Data on international trade in services is an emerging field. There are three primary sources:

WTO Trade Statistics
Statistics are high level summaries. Better for identifying trends than for detailed data.
OECD Statistics on International Trade in Services.
Data on trade between OECD nations and their partners. Data are available from 1999 -. Published in two parts:
- OECD statistics on international trade in services
  Summary level data
- OECD statistics on international trade in services. Detailed tables by partner countries
  Detailed tables, although data are not available for all partner countries
U.S. International Services: Cross Border Trade and Sales Through Affiliates
Data from 1984 -, collected by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Data are available in Excel spreadsheets.