U.S. Merchandise Trade Data: 1948-2005 (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 22, 2006 |
| Report Number |
98-536 |
| Authors |
J. Michael Donnelly, Congressional Reference Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
U.S. merchandise trade is trade in goods only, not services. In 2005, U.S. exports,imports, and trade deficit reached their highest historical values. Merchandise tradestatistics provide a continuous series to measure trade. These are the statistics used tomeasure trade in commodities and with partner countries and groups. Latest officialannual trade statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce, in this report, show thatU.S. exports remain strong and growing, whereas U.S. imports remain even stronger andare growing faster, resulting in the largest annual merchandise trade deficit in U.S.history, $767 billion, in 2005. Between 1948 and 2005, merchandise exports grew by71 times, and merchandise imports grew by 235 times. U.S. merchandise importsexceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 1999 and surpassed $1.5 trillion in 2005.During this full period, the U.S. merchandise trade balance was in surplus between 1948and 1970. The first U.S. postwar deficit occurred in 1971. The deficit exceeded $100billion for the first time in 1984, surpassed $200 billion in 1998, $300 billion in 1999,$400 billion in 2000, $500 billion in 2003, $600 billion in 2004, and $700 billion in2005.
