INTRO.ASC
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                                    INTRODUCTION

History

The United States may be said to have had an adequate set of import and
export statistics only since 1821.  During the years 1795-1801, import 
value figures were estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury and the 
figures for the years 1790-1794 and from 1802-1820 were apparently 
estimated many years later.  In the case of exports, it was required by 
statute that the dollar value in the statistics should be the value 
reported by the master of the vessel on which the goods left the country, 
but it was common practice for the U.S. Collectors of Customs to adjust 
this reported value quite arbitrarily.  By an Act approved February 1820, 
``to provide for obtaining accurate statements of the Foreign Commerce of 
the United States,'' a provision was made for the preparation of 
statistical accounts of the commerce of the United States with foreign 
countries by the Register of the Treasury to show the kinds, quantities and 
values of all articles exported to and of all articles imported from each 
foreign country.  These early and simple beginnings of foreign trade data 
have developed into the current comprehensive export and import statistical 
program.  The statistics are used extensively by both the public and 
private sectors of the country. 

Uses of Foreign Trade Data

Following are some of the uses of foreign trade statistics made by the public sector:



þ  To develop the merchandise trade figures which is part of the balance of
   payments accounts

þ  To appraise and analyze major movements and trends (commodity and
   geographic) in international trade

þ  To evaluate and plan such programs as the export expansion, agricultural
   and assistance programs under the Foreign Assistance Act and the
   Merchant Marine Act

þ  To measure the impact of tariff and trade concessions under the General
   Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General System of
   Preference

þ  As a statistical base to implement and analyze operations under various
   international agreements such as the Multi-Fiber Agreement, the Canadian
   Automotive Products Agreement, the International Coffee Agreement, etc.

þ  To develop aggregative import and export data for use in the National
   Accounts (GNP)

The Department of State, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce
District Offices, Department of Energy, Customs Service, Army Corps of
Engineers, Maritime Administration, Federal Maritime Commission, Interna-
tional Trade Commission, Office of the Special Trade Representative, and 
the Bureau of Economic Analysis are some of the U.S. government agencies 
that use the foreign trade statistics to assist them in fulfilling their
administrative responsibilities.

Following are some of the uses of foreign trade statistics made by the
private sector:

þ  To appraise the general trade situation

þ  As a basis for share-of-the-market penetration studies

þ  As a basis for product and market development

þ  As one of the statistical bases for determining marketing policies

þ  To measure the impact of competition

þ  To determine the need for the design of future facilities and equipment

Exporters, importers, manufacturers, financial organizations, research
institutions, the petroleum industry, business organizations, the
agricultural industry, steamship lines, airlines, port authorities, and
international organizations are some of the principal non-U.S. government
users of the foreign trade statistics.

U.S. Merchandise Trade (FT 900) is released 45 days after the month covered
as a press release and is the first available monthly foreign trade report.
It contains overall export, import and trade balance figures that are
anxiously awaited by U.S. government agencies, Wall Street, other non-
government organizations as well as by foreign countries, particularly the
major U.S. trading partners.

Commodity Classification Systems Effective January 1, 1989

The United States has joined the rest of the world in adopting a new import
and export commodity classification system.  The new import and export
schedules are based on the international Harmonized Commodity Description 
and Coding System (HS).

Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System - HS.  The international
Harmonized Commodity and Coding System (HS) is a system for classifying 
goods in international trade which has been developed under the auspices of 
the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC), located in Brussels.  The CCC is an
international organization consisting of representatives of about 150
countries.  The United States is represented in the CCC by the U.S. Customs
Service.

The HS is intended to serve as a universally accepted product nomenclature
classification of goods for the administration of customs programs, the
collection of data on exports and imports, the determination of
classification for assessment of freight charges, the collection of 
transport statistics for each mode of carrier, and the collection of 
statistics on the volume of domestic production and/or shipments.
The Harmonized System, like its predecessor Customs Cooperation Council
Nomenclature (CCCN), and the Brussels Tariff Nomenclature (BTN) systems, is 
a commodity classification system in which articles are grouped largely ac-
cording to the nature of the materials of which they are made, as has been
traditional in customs nomenclatures. The HS contains approximately 5000
headings and subheadings covering all articles in trade.  These provisions
are organized in 97 chapters arranged in 21 sections which, along with the
interpretive rules and legal notes to the chapters and sections, form the
legal text of the Harmonized System.

The headings and subheadings of the international HS are identified by
number, of which the first two digits represent the heading position in 
that chapter, and the second two digits represent the divisions 
(subheadings) of the heading.  The HS is for the most part a hierarchical 
system in the sense that there is nothing classifiable at a given 4-digit 
heading level that is not included in the given chapter (2-digit level); 
there is nothing classifiable at a given 6-digit subheading that is not 
included in the 4-digit heading.  The 2-, 4-, 5-, and 6-digit levels of the 
HS all have meaning, from a logical and analytical statistical standpoint. 
However, the 1- and 3-digit levels represent only a combination of numbers 
and categories; these combinations may often not represent categories of 
logical or analytical interest.  The HS 6-digit coding system can be 
adopted as is by individual countries, or can be expanded by adding digits 
for national purposes.  The Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature (CCCN) 
which will be superseded by the HS consists of approximately 1000 commodity 
classi-fications.  The file Section6.DBF on the CD-ROM lists the complete 
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.
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