United States Share of Trade and Terms of Trade

Table IIA-4A provides the United States balance of trade in goods, exports of goods and imports of goods NSA in millions of US dollars and percent share in Jan-Mar 2019. North America, consisting of Mexico and Canada, have joint share of 33.4 percent of exports and 26.9 of imports. The combined share of North America and Europe 57.5 percent of exports and 50.6 percent of imports. The share of the Pacific Rim in exports is 23.2 percent and 33.9 percent of imports.

Table IIA-4A United States, Balance of Trade in Goods, Exports in Goods and Imports of Goods, NSA, Millions of US Dollars

Jan-Mar 2019
Region/Country	Balance	Exports	%	Imports	%
Total Census Basis	-190,060	408,414		598,474
North America*	-24,763	136,215	33.4	160,978	26.9
Europe	-43,669	98,354	24.1	142,023	23.7
Euro Area	-32,499	63,707	15.6	96,206	16.1
Pacific Rim	-107,646	94,943	23.2	202,589	33.9
China	-79,979	25,994	6.4	105,974	17.7
Japan	-17,741	18,259	4.5	36,001	6.0

Source: US Census Bureau

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides measurements of US international terms of trade. The measurement by the BLS is as follows (https://www.bls.gov/mxp/terms-of-trade.htm):

“BLS terms of trade indexes measure the change in the U.S. terms of trade with a specific country, region, or grouping over time. BLS terms of trade indexes cover the goods sector only.

To calculate the U.S. terms of trade index, take the U.S. all-export price index for a country, region, or grouping, divide by the corresponding all-import price index and then multiply the quotient by 100. Both locality indexes are based in U.S. dollars and are rounded to the tenth decimal place for calculation. The locality indexes are normalized to 100.0 at the same starting point.
TT_t=(LOD_t/LOO_t)*100,
where
TT_t=Terms of Trade Index at time t
LOD_t=Locality of Destination Price Index at time t
LOO_t=Locality of Origin Price Index at time t
The terms of trade index measures whether the U.S. terms of trade are improving or deteriorating over time compared to the country whose price indexes are the basis of the comparison. When the index rises, the terms of trade are said to improve; when the index falls, the terms of trade are said to deteriorate. The level of the index at any point in time provides a long-term comparison; when the index is above 100, the terms of trade have improved compared to the base period, and when the index is below 100, the terms of trade have deteriorated compared to the base period.”

Chart IID-3 provides the BLS terms of trade of the US with Canada. The index increases from 100.0 in Dec 2017 to 117.8 in Dec 2011 and decreases to 94.8 in Apr 2019.

Chart IID-3, US Terms of Trade, Monthly, All Goods, Canada, NSA, Dec 2017=100

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/mxp/data.htm

Chart IID-4 provides the BLS terms of trade of the US with the European Union. There is improvement from 100.0 in Dec 2017 to 103.1 in Apr 2019.

Chart IID-4, US Terms of Trade, Monthly, All Goods, European Union, NSA, Dec 2017=100

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/mxp/data.htm

Chart IID-4 provides the BLS terms of trade of the US with Mexico. There is improvement from 100.0 in Dec 2017 to 101.9 in Apr 2019.

Chart IID-5, US Terms of Trade, Monthly, All Goods, Mexico, NSA, Dec 2017=100

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/mxp/data.htm

Chart IID-4 provides the BLS terms of trade of the US with China. There is deterioration from 100.0 in Dec 2017 to 99.8 in Sep 2018 and improvement to 100.5 in Apr 2019.

Chart IID-6, US Terms of Trade, Monthly, All Goods, China, NSA, Dec 2017=100

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/mxp/data.htm

Chart IID-4 provides the BLS terms of trade of the US with Japan. There is deterioration from 100.0 in Dec 2017 to 97.8 in Jan 2019 and improvement to 100.1 in Apr 2019.

Chart IID-7, US Terms of Trade, Monthly, All Goods, Japan, NSA, Dec 2017=100

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/mxp/data.htm