Trade data explained

Trade data, or import and export statistics, consist of statistical data about international trade, typically organized by time period, country, and commodity (using HS codes).

Uses

Governments, corporations, manufacturers, law firms, trade associations, and international organizations all use trade data to monitor the commodity markets relevant to their interests.^[1]

• Trade data can be used to assess supply and demand for particular commodities in particular countries,^{[2] [3]} which is useful not only to analysts but to companies seeking suppliers and customers.
• Trade data can also reveal how international trade responds to, and has an impact on, world events such as the China–United States trade war^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} and the COVID-19 pandemic^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}
• Trade data can reveal general trends in world trade^[13] and impact on particular regions and industries.^{[14] [8]}
• Trade data can inform government assessments of national trade partners^[15] and government regulatory decisions about international trade.^[16]

Data coverage and detail

Different sources of trade data may provide more or less complete data coverage, and more or less detail:

• reported vs. mirrored: One key distinction in trade data is between the reporting country (the country that provides data) and the partner country (the country listed as an export partner or import partner in the data provided by a reporting country). Usually, the official sources of a reporting country provide the best data about the country's own imports and exports. If this information is not available, trade data analysts often rely on "mirrored" data: data about the country as a partner country listed by other reporting countries. In other words, analysts attempt to reconstruct information about a country's imports and exports based on what other countries have reported exporting to and importing from it. The disadvantages are that truly complete "mirrored" data would require data from every other country (not all countries provide trade data), and also that because of methodological differences, "country X’s reported exports to country Y rarely match country Y’s reported imports from country X."^[17]
• countries, etc.: Different sources include different numbers of countries, because not all countries report trade data at all, and for many other countries trade data is not publicly available. Some sources provide trade data for groups of countries (such as the European Union), and some provide trade data for parts of countries (such as states in the United States^[18] and provinces in China^[19]).
• commodity detail: HS codes for commodities are of different lengths, with shorter codes indicating broader categories of commodities and longer codes indicating more specific subcategories. The first two digits indicate the broadest categories of commodities (e.g., 01 indicates live animals), the first four digits indicate subcategories (e.g., 0101 indicates horses, donkeys, and their hybrids, mules and hinnies), and the first six digits indicate sub-subcategories (e.g., 010121 indicates purebred horses for breeding).^[20] Individual countries use even more specific and longer codes (e.g., in the United States, 0101210010 indicates male purebred horses for breeding).^[21] Trade data may be provided without commodity codes (i.e., a nation's total imports or exports),^[22] or with only two-digit HS codes.^[23] The most flexible and complete trade data sources, however, allow users to view statistical data at any level of detail: total of all commodities (i.e., total imports or total exports),^[24] international HS codes from two-digit to six-digit,^{[25] [26]} and national commodity codes.^[27]
• annual vs. monthly: Sources may provide a country's annual totals without a breakdown by month, or provide trade data for each month in addition to annual totals.

Sources

National Sources

The ultimate source of trade data for a particular country is at the national level, usually the national statistical office, but sometimes "central banks, customs administrations and specialized governmental organizations."^[28] Some nations make their trade data publicly available online (in interfaces of varying user-friendliness), others provide it upon request, and yet others do not publish their trade data directly. To view data from multiple countries, or data from countries that do not publish their own data directly, users must rely on intergovernmental or commercial organizations that compile trade data from multiple national sources.

Intergovernmental Sources

• United Nations Commodity Trade Database
• Trade Map, trade statistics for international business development
• WTO Statistics Portal
• Statistical Portal: OECD
• European Union International Trade in Goods Data
• Food and Agricultural Trade Data by FAO

Commercial Sources

Although commercial sources charge for their services, they often offer some advantages over intergovernmental sources. For example, UN Comtrade is the official trade data source of the United Nations but is limited in the timeliness of its data. As of 14 October 2020, UN Comtrade only had January 2020 data for 73 countries, and only had August 2020 data for 15 countries.^[29] By contrast, the trade data company Trade Data Monitor boasts over 100 countries’ monthly data available "within hours of release from the source."^[30] China provides a striking example: as of 2020, UN Comtrade’s latest monthly data for China was from 2017,^[29] whereas Trade Data Monitor regularly reports China's trade statistics for the previous month.^{[31] [32] [33]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Home . Trade Data Monitor . 15 September 2020 .
2. Web site: How Nigeria's Battered Oil and Gas Sector is Surviving Covid . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

   TDM Insights

   . 25 September 2020 . 2 October 2020 .
3. Web site: Market assessments: Fish and Fishery Products (Food Outlook) . Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . May 2019 . 24 June 2020 .
4. Web site: How U.S.-China Trade Dispute Is Reshaping Global Trade Flows . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

   TDM Insights

   . 21 February 2020 . 2 October 2020 .
5. Web site: An Economic Analysis of the US-China Trade Conflict . Bekkers . Eddy . Schroeter . Sofia . World Trade Organization . 19 March 2020 . 24 June 2020 .
6. Carter . Colin A. . Steinbach . Sandro . January–February 2020 . Impact of the U.S.-China Trade War on California Agriculture . ARE Update . 23 . 3 . 9–11 . 24 June 2020.
7. Carter . Colin A. . March–April 2018 . China's Retaliatory Tariffs and California Agriculture . ARE Update . 21 . 4 . 1–4 . 24 June 2020.
8. Nti . Frank Kyekyeku . Kuberka . Lindsay . Jones . Keithly . 2019 . Impact of Retaliatory Tariffs on the U.S. Pork Sector . Choices . 34. 4 . 24 June 2020.
9. Web site: China Builds Up BRI Supply Chain For Covid-19 Vaccine . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

   TDM Insights

   . 2 October 2020 . 2 October 2020 .
10. Web site: U.S. Tariffs Hamper Imports of Sanitizer, Disinfectants, Some Companies Say . Ferek . Katy Stech . Zumbrun . Josh . The Wall Street Journal . 12 April 2020 . 24 June 2020 .
11. Web site: Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, China Bans Domestic Trade of Wild Animals, but Offers Tax Breaks for Exports . O’Keeffe . Kate . Xiao . Eva . The Wall Street Journal . 12 April 2020 . 24 June 2020 .
12. News: U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs . Eilperin . Juliet . Stein . Jeff . Butler . Desmond . Hamburger . Tom . The Washington Post . 18 April 2020 . 24 June 2020 .
13. Web site: Goods barometer signals further weakening of trade into first quarter . World Trade Organization . 17 February 2020 . 24 June 2020 .
14. Book: Carter, Colin A. . Martin . Philip L. . Goodhue . Rachael E. . Wright . Brian D. . California Agriculture: Dimensions and Issues . University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics . 2018 . Chapter 14. International Trade and California Agriculture . https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/83/a0/83a0a220-ecb3-45ca-83e3-69fdd8443a43/international_trade__california_agriculture.pdf .
15. Web site: 2019 Direct Versus Indirect Trade—Poland's Hidden Market for US Agriculture . United States Department of Agriculture . 15 April 2020 . 24 June 2020 .
16. Web site: Decision Memorandum: Steel Propane Cylinders from the People's Republic of China . United States Department of Commerce . 19 October 2018 . 24 June 2020 .
17. Turner . Matthew . 29 April 2019 . China's Golden Appetite . Alchemist . 93 . 10–12 . 12 August 2020.
18. Web site: Trade Data Showing New World Order? . Switzer . Mike . The South Carolina Business Review . 20 December 2019 . 12 August 2020 .
19. Web site: The Impact of the Coronavirus on Chinese Trade . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 17 March 2020 . 12 August 2020 .
20. Web site: HS Nomenclature 2017 edition: Chapter 1: Live animals . World Customs Organization . 3 September 2020 .
21. Web site: Harmonized Tariff Schedule . United States International Trade Commission . 2 September 2020 .
22. Web site: G20 International Merchandise Trade Statistics . OECD Statistics and Data Directorate . 27 August 2020 . 7 September 2020 .
23. 18 October 2019 . Austria . International Trade by Commodity Statistics . 2019 . 6 . 8–104 . 7 September 2020.
24. Web site: China's Strong August Exports Fueled by Medical Masks, High-Tech . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 7 September 2020 . 15 September 2020 .
25. Web site: The Impact of the Coronavirus on Chinese Trade . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 17 March 2020 . 15 September 2020 .
26. Web site: Global Surveillance Economy Fuels Boom in High-Tech Communications Trade . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 23 January 2020 . 15 September 2020 .
27. Web site: Covid's Latest Victim: Textbooks . Miller . John W. . McCune . Adam . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 14 September 2020 . 15 September 2020 .
28. Web site: National Practices in Compilation and Dissemination of External Trade Index Numbers . United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Statistics Division . 2005 . 15 February 2021 .
29. Web site: Data Availability . UN Comtrade . 14 October 2020 .
30. Web site: Customized Trade Data Systems . . 14 October 2020 .
31. Web site: Chinese Demand Boosts Covid-19 Recovery . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 13 October 2020 . 15 February 2021 .
32. Web site: China's Strong August Exports Fueled by Medical Masks, High-Tech . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 7 September 2020 . 15 February 2021 .
33. Web site: China's Trade Surplus Rises in July on Exports of Stay-at-Home Technology and Lower Commodity Prices . Miller . John W. . Trade Data Monitor

    TDM Insights

    . 7 August 2020 . 15 February 2021 .