Behind the Numbers U.S. Trade in the World Economy (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix B: Canvass of Data Users
Appendix B: Canvass of Data Users
Pages 187-220
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From page 187... ...
examined carefully and then rejected the idea of conducting a formal survey of users of foreign tracle data for three main reasons. First, there are so many different sources of foreign trade data that it would be virtually impossible to develop a comprehensive, unduplicated list of users.
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From page 188... ...
by the person interviewed. Group 3 is subscribers to the Census Bureau's foreign trade data products.
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From page 189... ...
About two-thirds of the responses came trom the private sector and one-thirc3 from users at various government levels. The invited presentations and the responses from Census Bureau subscribers covered a broac]
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From page 190... ...
or to participate in on-site interviews agreed to do so, although a small proportion of the Census Bureau subscribers and NBER conference participants responded to our invitation for written comments. Like the subgroups of the general population who write letters to newspapers or to their representatives in Congress, foreign trade data users who are articulate and have strong views or feelings undoubtedly predominated among the recipients of our written invitations for comments who responded.
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From page 191... ...
Large companies, companies that are primarily in the information business, and government agencies are more likely to use multiple sources. Of 27 Census Bureau subscribers in the manufacturing sector who responded, 10 relied solely on those foreign trade data.
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From page 192... ...
USES In asking foreign trade data users to tell us how they use the data, we did not try to constrain their uses to any specified set of categories. However, earlier attempts at classification were of some value in organizing the information they gave us {see Committee on National Statistics 19761.
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From page 193... ...
Aggregate trends in foreign trade, as presented in the Census Bureau's monthly trade balance series and the Bureau of Economic Analysis's quarterly balance-of-payments trade balance series, are important elements of the economic data that guide broad economic policies at the national and international levels. Detailed information on trade for specific countries and commodities is used to evaluate U.S.
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From page 194... ...
To promote exports, and in some instances the substitution of domestic products for imports, federal and state agencies monitor foreign trade and conduct market analyses for the benefit of current and potential exporters. At the federal level, the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration and the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Marketing Service are important users of foreign trade data for these purposes.
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From page 195... ...
One group of academic users took a strongly contrary view, however, pointing out that the annual costs of obtaining the Census Bureau's import and export tapes, along with the concordance tapes needled to convert the commodity data to other classifications, would total $1,200. Their statements also commented on the high costs of purchasing international bilateral trade data from the United Nations or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development fOECD)
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From page 196... ...
A U.S. agency that uses Census Bureau foreign trace data and also compiles trade data from its own sources compares these data and submits information about suspected errors to the Census Bureau.
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From page 197... ...
One of them said: "The availability of the COMPRO data base to federal users greatly facilitates access to trade information; hopefully, the new National Trade Data Bank will perform the same service to the general public." Researchers in universities had varying opinions. For those who are working under government contracts or grants, the acquisition of data is often facilitated by access to COMPRO.
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From page 198... ...
It is even more difficult to summarize the experiences and comments of commercial users on data acquisition and processing, and we are limited by the fact that most of our responses in this group came from subscribers to Census Bureau data, rather than those who rely entirely on data retailers or other sources. One thing that did emerge clearly in the comments from Census Bureau subscribers was their concern about the timeliness of the data (see next section)
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From page 199... ...
Those who did mentioned factors such as the seasonality of their business, the need to follow the dynamics of the market closely, and the need for timely data to prevent unfair trade practices such as dumping. Several users compared the timeliness of the Census Bureau foreign trade data with data from other sources or commented on changes in the timeliness of Census Bureau products.
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From page 200... ...
It will be of considerable interest to see whether two recent changes in the procedures for dissemination of foreign trade datathe Census Bureau's phase-out of microfiche and switch to CDROM for many of its reports and the development of the National Tracle Data Bank by the Commerce Department's Office of Business Analysis make it possible for private-sector users to get the data they want in a more timely manner.
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From page 201... ...
regularly monitors Census data for specific commodities, countries, ports, and customs districts, using data from other USDA units on grain inspections and export sales of agricultural commodities. Its feedback to the Census Bureau frequently leads to revisions of the merchandise trade data.
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From page 202... ...
trade data occur in data collection rather than in analysis or manipulation of the data by government analysts. The problem of reporting amounts in pounds instead of kilograms has already been mentioned.
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From page 203... ...
The same official asserted that the Census Bureau's Origin of Movement series is of limited use because the series inaccurately assigns exports to a state or region that may not have produced the exported item. The series showed that Louisiana, for example, exported 44 percent of total U.S.
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From page 204... ...
A specialist in market development for an aircraft manufacturer felt that the Census Bureau's estimates of low-value shipments were very unrealistic. A member of a group of foreign trade data users commented that the frequent increases in the cutoffs for low-value shipments were making it extremely difficult to monitor changes in the rapidly growing international air freight industry.
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From page 205... ...
A representative of the International Trade Administration expressed concern that recent efforts to facilitate movement of shipments through ports despite staffing cuts would lead to more errors in commodity classification: "It is clear that Customs' automated programs are designed to promote processing but will do little to overcome problems of misreporting." Most of the users' recommendations for improving the accuracy of foreign trade data were fairly general. Some chemical manufacturers who had expressed concerns about misclassification of commodities called for more checking of information supplied by exporters, active Census Bureau efforts to solicit users' reactions about the quality of the data, and, in one instance, increasing and enforcing penalties for misclassification or nonreporting.
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From page 206... ...
Some users who follow the data for specific commodities told us that they had notified the Census Bureau of apparent errors that they had identified. In some instances the problems had been dealt with adequately; but in others, they believed that Census had been unresponsive or had taken too long to eliminate the problem.
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From page 207... ...
some users would like additional assistance in keeping up with these changes and making the necessary adjustments to the time series that they are maintaining. A consulting and research firm asked that the Census Bureau provide not only a list of such changes ~ ~ ,.
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From page 208... ...
This area is another in which users' needs might be met either by the Census Bureau's producing new data or by users' adding value to existing data. A membership organization suggested that the United States give serious consideration to making the commodity codes used for merchandise trade more directly compatible with those used for domestic production.
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From page 209... ...
So far, we have covered user-identified needs that could be met primarily through enhancements of the Census Bureau's foreign trade statistics program on the basis of processing official trade documents. Now we turn to user needs whose satisfaction would require the use of other sources of foreign trade data or, in at least one instance, the creation of a new data source.
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From page 210... ...
The corporate economist statecl: "A fundamental redesign of information gathering about international transactions is called for ...." With respect to merchandise trade, he said: "A redesigned trade data system could be developed by using wellknown principles of sampling and devoting the same resources that are currently expended (for 100 percent processing of foreign
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From page 211... ...
through the list of subscribers to the Census Bureau's publications of merchandise trade statistics. Furthermore, data on merchandise trade have historically received the lion's share of attention and interest from the general public, and only a relatively small number of special
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From page 212... ...
To ensure that these areas were properly covered in its study, the panel invited several experts on statistics on international services transactions and financial flows, representing both producers and users of data, to make presentations. Primary attention was given to international services transactions.
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From page 213... ...
A former Commerce Department official pointed to several possible sources of error in the statistics on services transactions. He believes that the methods now used in estimating receipts and expenditures related to international travel, including transportation expenditures, should be thoroughly evaluated.
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From page 214... ...
A statement from the Coalition of Services Industries expressed substantial dissatisfaction with the data currently available and recommended clarification of concepts, more detail on different types of services, and monthly reporting. Other statements by a rather diverse group of users called for a variety on enhancements and improvements of services trade data, including more data on the educational component, more analyses of the data, development of price indices, more detail by country, and data by state.
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From page 215... ...
Finally, as was the case for merchandise and services trade, users of state data wanted information on some types of financial transactions at the state level. A representative from the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development told the panel that data for the state from the BEA surveys of U.S.
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From page 216... ...
As part of the panel study we will be interviewing users in several categories, but our resources are insufficient to meet or speak with all of you. Therefore, as Chair of the Panel on Foreign Trade Statistics, I would like to invite you to submit written statements describing what foreign trade data you are using, where you obtain the data, how you use the data, what your views are on the adequacy of the data for your purposes and how it might be improved, and what type of trade data will be most useful to you in the coming years.
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From page 217... ...
Information on any or all of the following subjects will be useful: · The kinds of data that you are using. Specify level of detail such as geographic and commodity types for merchandise trade data and services categories for services trade statistics.)
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From page 218... ...
4. Are foreign trade data processed or analyzed in conjunction with other kinds of data, e.g., data on domestic production or sales?
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From page 219... ...
For each one identified, obtain information on general nature and purpose, frequency, recipients and how the foreign trade data are presented.
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From page 220... ...
If this organization supplies foreign trade data to other organizations and individuals through publications or other media, inquire about their willingness to allow use of their mailing list for distribution of an invitation for users of their data to submit written statements to the Panel on Foreign Trade Statistics.
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