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Import/Export Price Indexes
Bureau of Labor Statistics > Import/Export Price Indexes > About > Overview

Import/Export Price Indexes (MXP) Overview

On this Page:

  1. Overview Pamphlet
  2. Data Available
  3. Coverage
  4. Sources of Data
  5. Reference Period
  6. Forms of Publication
  7. Uses
  8. Major Research in Progress
  9. Additional Technical Information

MXP Overview Pamphlet (PDF)

This provides a general overview of the MXP price indexes.


Data Available

  • Price indexes are available for nearly all merchandise categories. Published series are based on the following classification structures: BEA End Use, NAICS, and the Harmonized System.
  • Selected categories of international services are available.
  • Monthly indexes by import locality of origin, export locality of destination, and U.S. terms of trade by locality are available.
  • Quarterly data for selected series are available beginning in 1974 with complete coverage available from September 1982 for imports and September 1983 for exports.

Coverage

  • Merchandise goods groups covered account for nearly 100 percent of U.S. commodity imports and exports, by value. Works of art and selected special miscellaneous exports are excluded.
  • Services industries covered are air freight and air passenger fares.
  • Imports by Locality of Origin. These indexes include the following categories: Industrialized Countries, Canada, European Union, Latin America, Japan, Asian Newly Industrialized Countries, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico, Pacific Rim, China, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Asia Near East.
  • Exports by Locality of Destination. These indexes include the following categories: Industrialized Countries, Canada, European Union, Germany, Latin America, Mexico, Pacific Rim, China, and Japan.
  • U.S. Terms of Trade by locality. These indexes include the following categories: Industrialized Countries, Canada, European Union, Germany, Latin America, Mexico, Pacific Rim, China, and Japan.

Sources of Data

  • The sample of U.S. exporters is derived from shippers export declarations, and the sample of U.S. importers is derived from consumption entry documents.
  • U.S. import and export trade values are used as weights to aggregate index values.
  • Import and export air passenger fares are received from commercial airlines reservation systems.

Reference Period

  • IPP collects prices as close as possible to the first day of each reference month.

Forms of Publication

Uses

  • Deflate trade statistics. For merchandise trade, the End Use classification system is the structure used by the Department of Commerce in the construction of the foreign trade sector of the National Income and Product Accounts. For trade in international services, Balance of Payments indexes are used for deflating National Accounts data.
  • Measure import and export price trends for detailed and aggregate product groups.
  • Analyze price elasticities which reflect changes in the volume of trade in response to changes in prices or income.
  • Analyze terms of trade.
  • Analyze exchange rates.

Major Research in Progress

  • Expanding coverage of the international services sector.
  • Improving data collection.
  • Researching problems in price measurement and changing market structures.

Additional Technical Information:

 

Last Modified Date: November 29, 2024