Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until					  USDL-17-0181
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                         U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - JANUARY 2017

U.S. import prices advanced 0.4 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, 
following a 0.5-percent increase in December. For both months, a rise in fuel prices more than offset 
declining nonfuel prices. Prices for U.S. exports advanced 0.1 percent in January, after rising 0.4 percent the 
previous month.  

Imports

All Imports: Import prices increased 0.4 percent in January following a 0.5-percent advance in December. 
The price index for overall imports has trended up since March 2016 and rose 3.7 percent over the past year. 
The advance between January 2016 and January 2017 was the largest 12-month rise since the index 
increased 5.1 percent in February 2012.   

Fuel Imports: Prices for import fuel rose 5.8 percent in January following an increase of 6.6 percent in 
December. In January, higher prices for both petroleum and natural gas contributed to the overall rise in fuel 
prices. Petroleum prices rose 5.2 percent and natural gas prices increased 12.2 percent in January, after both 
indexes advanced in the previous month. Import fuel prices increased 57.6 percent over the past 12 months, 
the largest over-the-year rise since the index advanced 61.7 percent in March 2010. Petroleum prices rose 
60.9 percent for the year ended in January and natural gas prices advanced 45.0 percent over the same 
period. 

All Imports Excluding Fuel: In contrast to fuel prices, import nonfuel prices decreased 0.2 percent in 
January, after edging down 0.1 percent in December and November. The price index for nonfuel imports 
has not recorded a monthly increase since a 0.3-percent rise in July 2016. The January drop was led by 
lower prices for foods, feeds, and beverages and each of the major finished goods categories, which more 
than offset higher prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials. Nonfuel import prices recorded no 
change over the past 12 months.                     

Table A. Percent change in Import and Export Price Indexes, selected categories

Exports 

All Exports: Export prices ticked up 0.1 percent in January, following a 0.4-percent increase in December. 
Rising prices for nonagricultural exports more than offset falling agricultural prices in each of the 2 months. 
With the exception of a 0.8-percent drop in August 2016, export prices have trended up since April 2016 
and rose 2.3 percent for the year ended in January. The 2.3-percent rise was the largest 12-month advance 
since the index increased 2.6 percent between January 2011 and January 2012. 

Agricultural Exports: Export agricultural prices edged down 0.1 percent in January, after declining 0.2 
percent in December. The recent downturn followed increases of 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent in November 
and October, respectively. In January, falling prices for soybeans more than offset higher prices for corn. 
Despite the recent drops, agricultural export prices rose 0.8 percent for the year ended in January. 

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: The price index for nonagricultural exports ticked up 0.1 percent in 
January, after rising 0.4 percent the previous month. In January, the advance was led by increasing prices 
for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials and automotive vehicles. In contrast, consumer goods 
and capital goods prices declined in January. Nonagricultural exports also advanced over the past year, 
rising 2.4 percent between January 2016 and January 2017.   


                                       SELECTED JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS

Import Prices

Imports by Locality of Origin: Prices for imports from China fell 0.1 percent in January, after recording 
no change in December and fell 1.7 percent over the past 12 months. The price index for imports from 
China has not recorded a monthly increase since the index rose 0.1 percent in December 2014. Import prices 
from Japan declined 0.3 percent in January, the first decrease for the index since a 0.1-percent drop in 
January 2016 and the largest decline since the index fell 0.3 percent in August 2015. Prices for imports from 
Mexico and the European Union also fell in January, declining 1.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. In 
contrast, import prices from Canada advanced 1.8 percent in January, driven by higher fuel prices. 

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials increased 
0.7 percent in January following a 0.6-percent rise in December. Both advances were led by higher 
unfinished metal prices.             

Finished Goods: Each of the major finished goods price indexes declined in January. Prices for automotive 
vehicles fell 0.5 percent, driven by a 1.2-percent drop in the price index for non-engine parts. Capital goods 
and consumer goods prices also decreased in January, each edging down 0.1 percent. 

Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: Prices for import foods, feeds, and beverages declined 1.3 percent in 
January, after decreasing 1.5 percent the previous month.

Transportation Services: Import air passenger fares fell 1.7 percent in January following a 1.3-percent rise 
in December. The January downturn was driven by an 8.5-percent decline in Asian fares and an 11.7-
percent drop in Latin American/Caribbean fares. The index for import air passenger fares decreased 4.9 
percent for the year ended in January. Import air freight prices also declined in January, falling 1.8 percent. 
The price index for import air freight increased 5.0 percent over the past 12 months. 

Export Prices

Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: Export nonagricultural industrial supplies and 
materials prices advanced 0.7 percent in January, after a 2.1-percent rise the previous month. Both increases 
were primarily led by rising fuel prices. 

Finished Goods: Export finished goods prices were mixed in January. The price index for consumer goods 
decreased 1.0 percent for the second consecutive month. Those were the largest monthly declines for the 
index since the index fell 1.4 percent in June 1991. In January, the drop was driven by a 3.5-percent decline 
in medicinal, dental, and pharmaceutical materials prices. Capital goods prices also fell in January, edging 
down 0.1 percent. In contrast, automotive vehicle prices rose 0.4 percent in January. 

Transportation Services: Export air passenger fares increased 0.8 percent in January, and have not 
recorded a monthly decline since the index fell 11.1 percent in September 2016. The January advance was 
led by a 10.1-percent rise in Asian fares. The index for export air passenger fares rose 0.9 percent for the 
year ended in January. Export air freight prices increased 0.6 percent in January and declined 1.8 percent 
over the past year. 

Import and Export Price Index data for February 2017 are scheduled for release on Thursday, March 9, 2017 
at 8:30 a.m. (EST).    

					     TECHNICAL NOTE


Import and Export Merchandise and Services Price Indexes - All indexes use a modified Laspeyres 
formula and are not seasonally adjusted. Price indexes are reweighted annually, with a 2-year lag in the 
weights. Published series use a base year of 2000=100 where possible. More detailed index series and 
additional information may be obtained at www.bls.gov/mxp or by calling (202) 691-7101.

Merchandise Goods Classification Systems - The merchandise price indexes are published using three 
classification systems. Items are classified by end use according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
Classification System, by industry according to the North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS), and by product category according to the Harmonized System (HS). While classification by 
end use and product category are self-explanatory, some notes are in order for classifying items by 
industry. In the NAICS imports and exports tables, items are classified by output industry, not input 
industry. As an example, NAICS import index 326 (plastics and rubber products manufacturing) include 
outputs such as manufactured plastic rather than inputs such as petroleum. The NAICS classification 
structure also matches the classification system used by the Producer Price Index (PPI) to produce the 
NAICS primary products indexes.

Import Price Indexes - Products have been classified by the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States Annotated (TSUSA). Import prices are based on U.S. dollar prices paid by the U.S. importer. The 
prices are generally either "free on board" (f.o.b.) foreign port or "cost, insurance, and freight" (c.i.f.) 
U.S. port transaction prices, depending on the practices of the individual industry. The index for crude 
petroleum is calculated from data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy.  

Export Price Indexes - Products have been classified by the Harmonized Schedule B classification 
system of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The prices used are generally either "free alongside ship" 
(f.a.s.) factory or "free on board" (f.o.b.) transaction prices, depending on the practices of the individual 
industry. Prices used in the grain index, excluding rice, are obtained from the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture.

Services Price Indexes - Starting in September 2008, the import air passenger fares indexes represent 
changes in the average revenue per passenger received by foreign carriers from U.S. residents and are 
calculated from data obtained from an airline consulting service. These data include tickets sold by 
travel agencies and travel websites. Tickets sold directly by the airlines are excluded, as are frequent 
flyer tickets generally. Starting in January 2008, the export air passenger fares indexes represent changes 
in the average revenue per passenger received by U.S. carriers from foreign residents and are calculated 
from data collected directly from airlines. These data include frequent flyer tickets and those sold by 
consolidators. Taxes and fees are included in the import air passenger fares indexes and excluded from 
the export air passenger fares indexes. The air freight indexes are calculated from data collected directly 
from airlines. These data exclude mail and passenger baggage. The scope of the service being priced is 
the movement of freight from airport to airport only, and does not include any ground transportation or 
port service. The air freight indexes are presented using two definitions: balance of payments (which 
represent transactions between U.S. and foreign residents) and international (which represent 
transactions inbound to and outbound from the U.S.). Fact sheets specifying detailed information for 
each services industry are available at www.bls.gov/mxp under "MXP Publications."

Import Indexes by Locality of Origin - Prices used in these indexes are a subset of the data collected 
for the import price indexes. Beginning with January 2002, the indexes are defined by locality of origin 
using a nomenclature based upon the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). 
Nonmanufactured goods are defined as NAICS 11 and 21, and manufactured goods are defined as 
NAICS 31-33. 
 
Revision Policy - To reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents, monthly data 
may be revised in each of the 3 months after original publication. After 3 months, no further data 
revisions take place. For example, data first published in the January release will be subject to revision 
in the releases for February, March, and April.

Uses of the Data - The primary use of the indexes is to deflate trade statistics, notably the foreign trade 
sector of the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) constructed by the Department of 
Commerce. Other published indexes are useful for general market analysis. For trade in international 
services, balance of payments indexes are used for deflating NIPA, while international indexes are more 
appropriate for market analysis. Merchandise and services indexes also can be used to study U.S. 
competitiveness and to compute price elasticities, and the merchandise import indexes by country or 
region of origin are useful in terms of trade analysis.

Email Subscription - The U.S. import and export price indexes news release is available through an 
email subscription service at www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm. 
 
Additional Information - More detailed data are available on the Import/Export Price Indexes home 
page at www.bls.gov/mxp. For import and export price indexes data requests, send an email to 
mxpinfo@bls.gov.   

Information from this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  
Voice phone: (202)-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-(800)-877-8339.