National Reference publication:
Survey of Current Business (SCB). Articles on U.S. International Transactions appear in the January, April, July, and October issues of the SCB. Annual revisions are published in July. Added detail on private services transactions, together with a description of sources, methods and available data is presented in the SCB in an annual article on U.S. International Services, Cross-Border Trade and Services supplied Through Affiliates, usually in the October or November issue.
Periodicity:
See above
Data collection system:
Data are obtained from a variety of sources. However, data on many services are collected on surveys conducted by BEA. Information on these surveys is provided in U.S. International Transactions in Private Services: A Guide to Surveys Conducted by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Office, March 1998, available at http://bea.gov/bea/ARTICLES/INTERNAT/INTSERV/Meth/itguide.pdf. The latest versions of these surveys are available at http://www.bea.gov/bea/surveys/iussurv.htm. Additional sources used in developing estimates for specific services are listed below.
Methodology applied at national level:
The U.S. data presented here have been classified, to the extent possible, according to the BPM5. Some items are classified differently in the national sources cited above.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Bilateral data have been downloaded from BEA website on 4th December 2013.
Additional breakdowns (national classification and memorandum items) are also provided (in the dataset TIS Extra series) for the following items:
Breakdown of item 891Franchises and similar rights:
Breakdown of item 892Other royalties and license fees:
Other items:
950 Freight transportation on merchandise, valued on a transaction basis, and breakdown:
Breakdown of item 894Audiovisual transactions:
This item covers receipts and payments for the rights to broadcast pre-recorded material on motion picture film or television tape.
Breakdown of item 253Insurance services:
Breakdown of item 256Other direct insurance:
Breakdown of item 266Royalties and license fees:
Transportation
For freight, the main sources of data are mandatory BEA surveys of airline and vessel operators; U.S. waterborne exports and imports from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including shipping weight of cargo, freight, and insurance charges on imports, flag of vessel, and nationality operator; and U.S. Census Bureau compilations of U.S. airborne exports and imports. Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are used to estimate transborder trucking.
The main sources of data on port services are BEA surveys and the Census Bureau and Army Corps of Engineers compilations.
Passenger service estimates are derived by combining data on numbers of travellers, provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with estimates of average passenger fares developed from the travel survey administered by the U.S. International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Data from a BEA survey of U.S. airlines are also used in estimating U.S. passenger fare receipts and payments.
Travel
The main sources of data are the U.S. Department of Homeland security (for number of travellers) and surveys of international air travelers (for average expenditures). Estimates of travel for Canada and Mexico are based on data from Statistics Canada and the Bank of Mexico, respectively. Average expenditures are based on a survey of travelers administered by the International Trade Administration's National Travel and Tourism Office.
Communications services
Communications services includes postal services and telecommunications services only. The first item includes only transactions of the U.S. Postal Service with foreigners for postal services, these data are include elsewhere in national data. Telecommunications consists of gross receipts and payments between U.S. and foreign communications companies for the transmission of messages between the United States and other countries; channel leasing; telex, telegram, and other jointly provided basic services; value-added services, such as electronic mail, video conferencing, and online access services (including Internet backbone services, router services, and broadband access services); and telecommunications support services. Courier services are not included here, but are instead included under the item Air transport, freight.
Insurance services
Insurance services consist of the portion of premiums remaining after provision for expected or "normal" losses, and imputed premiums supplement, representing the investment income of insurance companies on funds that are treated as belonging to policyholders, and auxiliary insurance services. Normal losses are inferred from the relationship between actual losses and premiums averaged over several years. Normal losses include catastrophic losses, which are spread in equal increments over the 20 years following their occurrence. Most of the detail for calculating these statistics is collected on BEA surveys.
Financial services
Financial services include funds management fees, credit card services, fees and commissions on transactions in securities, implicit fees paid and received on bond trading, fees in credit-related activities, and other financial services. Most of the data are collected through BEA surveys.
Computer and information services
This item is obtained as the sum of two items in the national data: (1) computer and data processing services and (2) database and other information services.
Services between affiliated enterprises, n.i.e.
This item covers sales of services, including allocated overhead or other charges, between U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates and between U.S. affiliates of foreign companies and their foreign parent groups.
Government services n.i.e.
Credit entries under "embassies and consulates" for transactions with foreign governments and international organizations are estimated by applying an average dollar-per-person figure to the number of each foreign government's diplomatic personnel in the United States. Data sources are the U.S. State Department's documents "Diplomatic List" and "Foreign Consular Offices in the United States". A United Nations document, "Permanent Missions to the United Nations", is also used. Credit entries for international organizations located in the United States are largely derived from data obtained from the organizations themselves. Expenditures of organizations that do not report to BEA are estimated by applying an estimate of expenditures per employee to the total number of employees of these organizations.
U.S. Government debit and credit entries under "military units and agencies" and "other government services, n.i.e." are based on BEA reviews of U.S. Government budgetary documents and reports of U.S. Government agencies.
Bilateral data have been downloaded from BEA website on 4th December 2013.
Additional breakdowns (national classification and memorandum items) are also provided (in the dataset TIS Extra series) for the following items:
Breakdown of item 891Franchises and similar rights:
Breakdown of item 892Other royalties and license fees:
Other items:
950 Freight transportation on merchandise, valued on a transaction basis, and breakdown:
Breakdown of item 894Audiovisual transactions:
This item covers receipts and payments for the rights to broadcast pre-recorded material on motion picture film or television tape.
Breakdown of item 253Insurance services:
Breakdown of item 256Other direct insurance:
Breakdown of item 266Royalties and license fees:
Transportation
For freight, the main sources of data are mandatory BEA surveys of airline and vessel operators; U.S. waterborne exports and imports from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including shipping weight of cargo, freight, and insurance charges on imports, flag of vessel, and nationality operator; and U.S. Census Bureau compilations of U.S. airborne exports and imports. Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are used to estimate transborder trucking.
The main sources of data on port services are BEA surveys and the Census Bureau and Army Corps of Engineers compilations.
Passenger service estimates are derived by combining data on numbers of travellers, provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with estimates of average passenger fares developed from the travel survey administered by the U.S. International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Data from a BEA survey of U.S. airlines are also used in estimating U.S. passenger fare receipts and payments.
Travel
The main sources of data are the U.S. Department of Homeland security (for number of travellers) and surveys of international air travelers (for average expenditures). Estimates of travel for Canada and Mexico are based on data from Statistics Canada and the Bank of Mexico, respectively. Average expenditures are based on a survey of travelers administered by the International Trade Administration's National Travel and Tourism Office.
Communications services
Communications services includes postal services and telecommunications services only. The first item includes only transactions of the U.S. Postal Service with foreigners for postal services, these data are include elsewhere in national data. Telecommunications consists of gross receipts and payments between U.S. and foreign communications companies for the transmission of messages between the United States and other countries; channel leasing; telex, telegram, and other jointly provided basic services; value-added services, such as electronic mail, video conferencing, and online access services (including Internet backbone services, router services, and broadband access services); and telecommunications support services. Courier services are not included here, but are instead included under the item Air transport, freight.
Insurance services
Insurance services consist of the portion of premiums remaining after provision for expected or "normal" losses, and imputed premiums supplement, representing the investment income of insurance companies on funds that are treated as belonging to policyholders, and auxiliary insurance services. Normal losses are inferred from the relationship between actual losses and premiums averaged over several years. Normal losses include catastrophic losses, which are spread in equal increments over the 20 years following their occurrence. Most of the detail for calculating these statistics is collected on BEA surveys.
Financial services
Financial services include funds management fees, credit card services, fees and commissions on transactions in securities, implicit fees paid and received on bond trading, fees in credit-related activities, and other financial services. Most of the data are collected through BEA surveys.
Computer and information services
This item is obtained as the sum of two items in the national data: (1) computer and data processing services and (2) database and other information services.
Services between affiliated enterprises, n.i.e.
This item covers sales of services, including allocated overhead or other charges, between U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates and between U.S. affiliates of foreign companies and their foreign parent groups.
Government services n.i.e.
Credit entries under "embassies and consulates" for transactions with foreign governments and international organizations are estimated by applying an average dollar-per-person figure to the number of each foreign government's diplomatic personnel in the United States. Data sources are the U.S. State Department's documents "Diplomatic List" and "Foreign Consular Offices in the United States". A United Nations document, "Permanent Missions to the United Nations", is also used. Credit entries for international organizations located in the United States are largely derived from data obtained from the organizations themselves. Expenditures of organizations that do not report to BEA are estimated by applying an estimate of expenditures per employee to the total number of employees of these organizations.
U.S. Government debit and credit entries under "military units and agencies" and "other government services, n.i.e." are based on BEA reviews of U.S. Government budgetary documents and reports of U.S. Government agencies.