TradeStats Express FAQs

TradeStats Express (TSE) is an interactive data dashboard that presents U.S. merchandise trade data by partner and product for 2009 forward.

Two versions of TSE are available: TSE-Annual, which provides data on an annual basis; and TSE-Year-to-Date (TSE-YTD), which provides data on a YTD basis. Year-to-date (YTD) reflects the sum of the monthly data far each year from January through the latest month available. For example, YTD October data reflects the sum of January to October data.

Both TSE-Annual and YSE-YTD provide U.S. national and state-level data.

National trade statistics in TSE cover the physical movement of merchandise between the United States (defined as U.S. Customs Territory (the 50 States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico), U.S. Foreign Trade Zones, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and foreign regions.

State trade statistics in TSE cover the physical movement of merchandise between a given state and foreign regions.

Trade data are provided by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division. Technical questions regarding the content, collection, and tabulation of U.S. foreign trade data should be directed to eid.international.trade.data@census.gov. Many common questions regarding U.S. trade data are addressed in the Guide to Foreign Trade Statistics, which can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/guide/.

Merchandise trade includes all tangible goods - e.g., manufactures, raw materials, and unprocessed agricultural commodities. 

No, TradeStats Express provides statistics on U.S. merchandise trade only. The Bureau of Economic Analysis collects and compiles U.S. services import and export statistics.

The National trade dashboards offer Exports, Imports, Trade Balance (Exports minus Imports), and Two-Way (Exports plus Imports) Trade.

The State trade dashboards offer Exports and Imports.

The Census Bureau discourages calculating state trade balances using state data due to limitations in the data. For example, the origin of origin of movement may not be the transportation origin of an export, and the state of destination may not reflect the final destination of an imported good. In addition, the trade data do not provide information to track or monitor interstate flows. See the Census Foreign Trade Guide for additional detail on the limitations of state trade data.

State exports are drawn from the Census Bureau Origin of Movement (OM) Series, which provides export statistics based on the state from which the merchandise starts its journey to the port of export; that is, the data reflect the transportation origin of exports.

State imports are drawn from the Census Bureau State of Destination (SD) Series, which provides import statistics based on the U.S. state, U.S. territory or U.S. possession where the merchandise is destined, as known at the time of entry summary filing. 

Data are available starting from 2009. Prior years of trade data can be found in the Census Bureau’s USA Trade Online or International Trade Commission’s Data Web.

No, data is not seasonally adjusted. No adjustments have been made to correct for inflation, seasonal effects, or other factors

New annual data is published once per year in February (e.g., in February 2021, Annual 2020 statistical data is published).

YTD data is updated monthly to reflect the latest month available.

In addition, relevant data in the TSE dashboard will be revised on an annual basis, typically in June, in accordance with the Census Bureau Annual Revision Procedure for Merchandise Goods Trade. The annual revision goes back 3 years. For example, 2019, 2020, and 2021 data will be revised in June 2022. See the Foreign Trade Guide for additional detail.

TSE National dashboards use the North American Classification System (NAICS) and Harmonized System (HS) product categories, while the State dashboard only uses NAICS product categories.

NAICS was developed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, along with other federal agencies and the governments of Canada and Mexico. NAICS is the present standard industry classification underlying a variety of U.S. government statistics. More information is available from the NAICS Association. NAICS is the preferred classification system for data when comparability with U.S. industry statistics, such as employment or manufacturers’ shipments, is an objective.

The HS, or “Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System,” was developed by the World Customs Organization. More than 200 economies use the HS as a basis for their customs tariffs and for the collection of international trade statistics. The United States maintains two classifications systems based on HS: Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) for imports, and Schedule B for exports. These are the only commodity classification codes recorded in traders’ declarations. Thus, statistics in HS terms are the only ones tabulated directly; other systems are cross-classified based on HS. HS is the preferred classification system for data when fine detail is needed, when the analysis is related to trade law and trade policy, or when international comparability is required.

TSE includes NAICS data and the -2, -3, and -4 digit levels and HS data at the -2 and -4 digit levels. Additional detail for each classification system can be found in the Census Bureau’s USA Trade Online or International Trade Commission’s Data Web.

Export statistics are reported on a Free Alongside Ship value basis.

Import statistics are for General Imports, Customs Value.

To retrieve the data, select the parameters you want from the drop-downs.

For example, to retrieve trade balance data for “Oil and Gas” from the TSE National, Annual dashboard starting from 2015:

• Under Select Dashboard Options
• Select NAICS-4 from Classification System
• Select 2111—Oil and Gas from Product
• Select Trade Balance from Trade Flow
• Select Start Year 2015 from Start Year

Once you have made your selection, click the Download icon found on the toolbar at the top of the visual. Select crosstab and then choose the visual you wish to download (Map, Table, or Time Series). You can also download the visual as a PDF file or as an image.

Note: Ensure “0—All Merchandise” is selected under Product before navigating between classification Systems