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  U.S. Trade Internet System - Users Manual

Table of Contents

Overview

The U.S. Trade Internet System supports the tracking of imports and exports of agricultural commodities into and out of the United States. The system allows users to generate reports that provide trade information on one or more commodity(ies) for one or more country(ies) over a user-specified time period.

Internet Access

The application is accessed through a Web browser. To access the U.S. Trade Internet System: Insert the URL: http://www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade

Application Organization

USTrade Internet data is organized into three data types

  1. Exports - tracks data from the U.S. to its trading partners


  2. Imports - tracks data to the U.S. from its trading partners


  3. Re-exports - tracks commodities that enter the U.S. and are resold abroad

Data Groupings

Within each of the three data groupings cited above, data aggregations are further defined and are available to users in seven different collections for Imports and Exports and five for Re-exports. These collections are:
  1. BICO - Bulk, Intermediate and Consumer-oriented groupings of Harmonized Tariff Export and Import codes, which are FAS-defined collections and are commonly used groups throughout FAS


  2. FAS - These groupings are also agency-defined collections of export and import codes, which are grouped by commodity type, i.e., all export codes for wheat are grouped together.


  3. FATUS - These are Commodity Code groupings that are similar to, but not exactly the same as, FAS collections and are maintained by the Economic Research Service


  4. HS 2-Digit - These are very high-level groupings of export and import codes. For example, all live animals are grouped together in an aggregation under this collection.


  5. HS 4-Digit - A somewhat lower-level grouping of export and import codes. At this level, live animals are divided into groups such as Live Horses, Live Poultry, Live Swine, etc.


  6. HS 6-Digit - A further refinement of the groupings of export and import codes at an even more detailed level is provided in this collection. At this level, Live Horses has been divided into Live Horses Pure and Live Horses. Similar refinement has taken place for all commodity groups.


  7. HS 10-Digit - The lowest of level of detail at which users can access commodity information. A grouping of Live Bovine is divided and grouped by female and male.

Tabs

Directly below the Data Type Selection choices are the Data Grouping Tabs. These selection tabs allow users to easily switch between the available data group collections.

Data Grouping Tabs

  1. BICO - Uses the Bulk, Intermediate and Consumer-oriented groupings of Harmonized Tariff Export and Import codes.


  2. FAS - Uses the FAS groupings of agency-defined collections of export and import codes.


  3. FATUS - Uses the ERS-maintained commodity groups.


  4. HS 2-Digit - Uses these very high-level groupings of export and import codes.


  5. HS 4-Digit - Uses these somewhat lower-level grouping of export and import codes.


  6. HS 6-Digit - Uses this further refinement of the groupings of export and import codes.


  7. HS 10-Digit - Uses the lowest of level of detail at which users can access commodity information.

Informational Tabs

These tabs provide information about the application and its data.
  1. About - Takes users to a Census site (the source of our data), which provides information on the data used in the U.S. Trade Internet System.


  2. Release - Provides a table containing the monthly release date of US Trade data


  3. Country - Contains a list of all countries, their FIPS and US TRADE codes, and provides access to country group information


  4. Country Groups - Gives the user a listing of relevant country groups.


    5. There are three lists of country groups that are used in the application; each group is associated with a particular data group type. The list of country groups that will be displayed is dependent on which data group type is active.

    1. BICO Country Groupings - Provides access to the BICO country groups and can display the contents of each group
    2. FAS Country Groupings - Provides access to the FAS country groups and can display the contents of each group
    3. ERS Country Groupings - Provides access to the ERS (FATUS) country groups and can display the contents of each group

  5. Commodity - Allows users to search by code or description for a commodity in the database.


  6. Tips - Provides an explanation of the different data items and groupings contained in the system, defines terms and acronyms used throughout the system, and answers Frequently Asked Questions.


  7. Help - Provides information on application use, contains examples of all available report formats, and describes the use of each function in the creation of a query.

Querying the Database

To create a valid query, users need to select a set of criteria on which to base the query. A selection of the following information types must be chosen to create a query:

  1. Select Country Information


    • Individual Countries and Pre-grouped Regions

      • Users can select one or more countries and/or pre-grouped Country Regions from the Countries box. When selecting multiple entries from the Countries box, use the Shift or Control keys in the Standard Windows manner
    • User-created Country Summary

      • Users can create their own Country grouping or summary. By selecting multiple entries in the Countries box and clicking on the Summarize Countries field and providing a name for the summary, the users can collapse their entries into one summary line item.


  2. Select Commodity Information


    • Select Individual or Pre-grouped Commodities

      • Users can select one or more commodity entries from the Commodities box. When selecting multiple entries, use the Shift or Control keys in the Standard Windows manner
    • User-created commodity summary

      • Users can create their own Commodity grouping or summary. By selecting multiple entries in the Commodities box and clicking on the Summarize Commodities field and providing a name for the summary, the users can collapse all selected entries into one summary line item.


  3. Select Date Range


    4. Selecting Ending Year Date Range: The time period covered for a query is indicated by selecting the Ending Year date range of the most recent month/year time period that will be covered in the query. For example, if a user is requesting a five year report for calendar years 1995 - 1999, she will indicate the time period by selecting 1999 and 01 (in the From field) and 1999 and 12 (in the To field). This selection indicates to the system that the final column of the output will contain information from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999.

  4. Report Format


    5. Ten output formats are currently available. The format type, combined with the end year information supplied by the user, determines the overall time period of the query and the layout of the output. When a user selects January 1999 - December 1999 as the Ending Year Date Range and then selects Two Year as her report format choice, the output covers calendar years 1998 and 1999. Had a seven year format choice been made, the output would cover calendar years 1993 - 1999. The 8 available formats are:

    • BICO Format - FAS's standard BICO format (5 years of data with a 2 year comparison; primary sort by country)
    • BICO Q&V - FAS's standard BICO format (5 years of quantities and values with a 2 year comparison; primary sort by country)
    • FATUS UV - ERS's standard FATUS format (2 years of quantities and values with the calculated unit of value
    • BICO Product - FAS's standard BICO Product format (5 years of data with a 2 year comparison; primary sort by product)
    • Monthly - displays data in monthly increments
    • Two Year - provides two years of either Quantity and Value data based on the End year indicated by the user
    • Five Year - provides five years of either Quantity or Value data based on the End year indicated by the user
    • Five Year Q&V - provides five years of both Quantity and Value data based on the End year indicated by the user
    • Seven Year - provides seven years of either Quantity or Value data based on the End year indicated by the user
    • Ten Year - provides 10 years of either Quantity or Value data based on the End year indicated by the user

  5. Order


    • Sort by Commodity/Country - indicates that the output's primary sort will be by commodity with a secondary sort performed on the countries under each selected commodity.
    • Sort by Country/Commodity - indicates that the output's primary sort will be by country with a secondary sort performed on the commodities under each selected country.

  6. Include


    • All - include all values that fit the parameters selected in the final output
    • Top 10 - include only the top 10 rows that fit the parameters selected in the final output
    • Top 20 - include only the top 20 rows that fit the parameters selected in the final output
    • Top 50 - include only the top 50 rows that fit the parameters selected in the final output

  7. Summary


    8. The Summary field indicates the level of detail that data will be displayed in the final output. There are three Summary options available:

    • Summary - Displays data at the user-selected level. The row in the final output will be displayed at the data group level selected by the user.
    • CN Detail (Country Detail) - Country region(s) and group(s) are displayed at the individual country level
    • CM Detail (Commodity Detail) - Commodity group information is displayed at the commodity component-level of the group

  8. Statistic


    9. The Statistic field is used to indicate whether the final report should contain Value, Quantity, CIF Value (Imports Only) or Unit Value (FATUS and HS-10 Only) information.

    • Value - Denotes that the output will be the Monetary Value of trade (dollars).
    • Quantity - The output will be the Volume of trade, e.g., metric tons.
    • CIF Value - For Imports only the output will be the Cost, Insurance and Freight Value of trade (dollars).
    • Unit Value - For FATUS and HS-10 only the output will be the calculated Unit Value of trade.

  9. Value


    • Thousands - Displays the monetary value in thousands of dollars
    • Dollars - Displays the monetary value in single dollar amounts.

  10. Ag Only
    11. - Only available in the FAS Commodity Groups

    • YES
      • - The report output includes only those harmonized tariff schedule commodities that the U.S. Department of Agriculture designates as "agricultural" in nature. The Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census has recently adopted USDA's classification system for agricultural products, so all DOC reports that cover agriculture should match USDA's data.
    • NO
      • - The report output includes selected "non-agricultural" harmonized tariff schedule commodities that are tracked by USDA.

    *Note USDA's trade databases include only selected "non-agricultural" harmonized tariff schedule commodities. The non-agricultural commodities which have been included are those which are closely associated with agricultural commodities and those which the Department is interested in tracking. They typically fall into two groups: manufactured products derived from plants or animals like yarns, fabrics, textiles, leather, articles of apparel, cigarettes and cigars, spirits; or products used in the farm production process like agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, and farm machinery. Fishery products are included as non-agricultural products because of their food value and the fact that FAS collaborates with the seafood industry to promote exports. Solid wood products are also included as a non-agricultural product because FAS collaborates with U.S. industry to promote exports of these products as well.

  11. Type
    12. - Imports Only

    • Imports for Consumption - The Default

      • "Imports for Consumption" measure the total of merchandise that has physically cleared through Customs either entering consumption channels immediately or entering after withdrawal for consumption from bonded warehouses under Customs custody or from Foreign Trade Zones. Many countries use the term "special imports" to designate statistics compiled on this basis.
    • General Imports

      • "General Imports" measure the total physical arrivals of merchandise from foreign countries, whether such merchandise enters consumption channels immediately or is entered into bonded warehouses or Foreign Trade Zones under Customs custody.

  12. Output


    • Off - Output file will not be saved to disk.
    • On - Report - Used to indicate that the user wishes to save the output file (as a delimited file) to disk. Duplicated data is omitted.
    • On - Data - Used to indicate that the user wishes to save the output file (as a delimited file) to disk. Duplicate data is included.

  13. Border


    14. By turning the Border "ON" (the default is off) a border will be displayed on the rows and columns of the report. The appearance will be similar to that of a spreadsheet.

    • On - Borders will be displayed
    • Off - Borders will NOT be displayed

Command Buttons

There are four Command Buttons located at the bottom of the main screen. They are:

  1. Submit - Submits the selected criteria of the user's query for processing.


  2. Save - Saves your selection in you're my US TRADE, which is a user's personal Web account


  3. Reset - Refreshes the user's screen and returns settings to system defaults.


  4. Login/Logout - Logs users in and out of their personal U.S. Trade Internet System account.

Data Type Selections

There are three data types available on the system. Each can be selected by clicking on the desired type. The three types are:

  1. Exports - Accesses all of the export commodities and commodity groups and makes that data set the "active" collection.


  2. Imports - Accesses all of the import commodities and commodity groups and makes that data set the "active" collection.


  3. Re-Exports - Accesses all of the Re-Export commodities and commodity groups and makes that data set the "active" collection.

MY US TRADE

This function allows users to create a personal account in the U.S. Trade Internet System. Once a user account has been established, the user can save and modify queries and then resubmit them at a later time.

  1. Creating a MY US TRADE Personal Account

    2. Click on MY US TRADE
    Click on "Click Here To Create One" in yellow located at the bottom of the log Login Window
    Enter an Account Name and a password
    Verify the password.

  2. Login to MY US TRADE

    3. Click on MY US TRADE from the main Window
    Enter your Account Name
    Password and click on Login.

  3. Save Report Request

    4. After selecting the parameters of your report request, click on SAVE at the bottom of the Window. You will be prompted to login to your personal account. Once logged in, click on SAVE to save your report request in your personal account.

  4. MY US TRADE Submit

    5. Select (click on) the report request that you wish to run, then click on the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the Window

  5. MY US TRADE Modify

    6. To review or modify the parameters of your report request, select (click on) the report request, and click on the MODIFY button at the bottom of the Window.

  6. MY US TRADE Delete

    7. Select (click on) the report request that you wish to erase, then click on the DELETE button at the bottom of the Window.
  7. MY US TRADE Reset

    8. To refresh the MY USTRADE Window, click on the RESET button at the bottom of the Window.

  8. MY USTRADE Change Dates

    9. Select (click on) the report request for which you wish to change, click on the Change Dates selection box, set the date to reflect the new date range and click on the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the Window.

  9. MY US TRADE Logout

    10. To logout of your personal U.S. Trade Internet System account, click on the LOGOUT button at the bottom of the Window

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