Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until                              USDL-18-0746
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                           U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - APRIL 2018

U.S. import prices increased 0.3 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, 
following a 0.2-percent decline in March. Prices for fuel and nonfuel imports advanced in April. Prices for 
U.S. exports rose 0.6 percent in April, after increasing 0.3 percent in March. Higher prices for 
nonagricultural exports more than offset declining agricultural export prices in April. 

Imports

All Imports: Import prices advanced 0.3 percent in April resuming the recent upward trend after declining 
0.2 percent the previous month. The March decrease was the first time the index recorded a drop since a 0.2-
percent decline in July 2017. Prices for U.S. imports rose 3.3 percent between April 2017 and April 2018. 
U.S. import prices have not recorded a 12-month decline since a 0.2-percent decrease for the year ended 
October 2016.

Fuel Imports: The price index for import fuels advanced 1.3 percent in April after declining 2.4 percent in 
March. Petroleum prices rose 1.6 percent in April more than offsetting a 4.4-percent drop in natural gas 
prices. Import fuel prices advanced 18.7 percent between April 2017 and April 2018 and have not declined 
on a 12-month basis since a 3.7-percent drop for the year ended September 2016. The price index for 
petroleum imports rose 20.6 percent over the past 12 months. Natural gas prices fell 6.6 percent for the year 
ended in April, the largest 12-month decline since a 16.1-percent decrease for the year ended October 2017. 

All Imports Excluding Fuel: The price index for nonfuel imports rose 0.2 percent in April, following 
advances of 0.1 percent in March and 0.4 percent in February. Higher import prices for nonfuel industrial 
supplies and materials; consumer goods; and automotive vehicles more than offset declining prices for 
foods, feeds, and beverages. Nonfuel import prices advanced 1.8 percent over the past 12 months and have 
not recorded an over-the-year decline since a 0.2-percent drop for the year ended November 2016. 


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

Exports

All Exports: Prices for U.S. exports rose 0.6 percent in April and have not recorded a decline since June 
2017. The monthly advance was driven by higher nonagricultural export prices which more than offset 
declining agricultural prices. The price index for U.S. exports increased 3.8 percent over the past year, the 
largest 12-month increase since a 4.8-percent rise for the year ended November 2011. The index has not 
recorded a decrease on a 12-month basis since a 0.2-percent decline between November 2015 and 
November 2016.

Agricultural Exports: Prices for agricultural exports fell 1.2 percent in April after recording a 3.2-percent 
rise in March. The decline in April was the first monthly drop in agricultural prices since the index fell 0.3 
percent in December 2017. Lower export prices for soybeans, nuts, and wheat drove the April decline. The 
price index for agricultural exports rose 1.4 percent over the past 12 months and has not declined over a 12-
month period since a 1.8-percent decrease in July 2017. 

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: The price index for nonagricultural exports increased 0.7 percent in 
April. Nonagricultural export prices have not declined on a monthly basis since a 0.1-percent drop in 
October 2017. The April increase in nonagricultural export prices was driven by a 1.5-percent rise in 
nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials. Prices for nonagricultural exports advanced 4.0 percent 
over the 12-month period ended April 2018, the largest 12-month increase since a 4.8-percent rise for the 
year ended November 2011. 


                                        SELECTED APRIL HIGHLIGHTS

Import Prices

Imports by Locality of Origin: Import prices from China fell 0.1 percent in April after rising 0.2 percent in 
March. The decline in April was the first monthly drop since a 0.3-percent decrease in September 2017. 
Import prices from China increased 0.2 percent over the past 12 months and have not recorded a 12-month 
decrease since December 2017. Prices for imports from Japan rose 0.1 percent in April after rising 0.2 
percent in March and 0.3 percent in February. The price index for imports from Japan rose 0.2 percent over 
the past 12 months. The price indexes for imports from the European Union and Canada both increased 0.6 
percent in April. Import prices from Mexico fell for a third consecutive month in April, declining 0.2 
percent.

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Import prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials 
increased 0.7 percent in April following a 1.0-percent rise in March. Import prices for industrial organic 
chemicals rose 4.2 percent and prices for iron and steel mill products advanced 4.0 percent, driving the 
overall April increase in nonfuel industrial supplies and materials. 

Finished Goods: The price index for consumer goods rose 0.1 percent in April after a 0.1-percent decline in 
March. Consumer goods import prices were driven by higher prices for medicinal, dental, and 
pharmaceutical materials. Import prices for automotive vehicles also increased 0.1 percent in April 
following a 0.1-percent drop in March. Import prices for capital goods recorded no change in April. 

Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: Import prices for foods, feeds, and beverages fell 0.4 percent in April after a 
1.1-percent drop in March. The import price index for vegetables drove the monthly decrease, falling 7.0 
percent. Meat prices also contributed to the April drop, declining 2.2 percent. 

Transportation Services: The index for import air passenger fares increased 2.8 percent in April after 
declining 6.5 percent in March. Import air passenger fares rose 7.9 percent over the past year, the largest 12-
month increase since an 8.2-percent advance for the year ended December 2013. Import air freight prices 
increased 0.7 percent in April and 10.2 percent over the past 12 months. 

Export Prices

Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: Export prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies 
and materials increased 1.5 percent in April. The monthly advance was driven by a 4.0-percent increase in 
the price index for export fuels. 

Finished Goods: Export prices for capital goods and automotive vehicles advanced 0.4 percent and 0.1 
percent, respectively, in April. Capital goods export prices rose 2.0 percent for the year ended April 2018, 
the largest 12-month increase since a 2.1-percent rise for the year ended August 2008. Consumer goods 
prices recorded no change in April. 

Transportation Services: Export air passenger fares advanced 16.2 percent in April, the largest monthly 
advance since the index was first published monthly in December 2000. The April increase was driven by 
higher Asian and Latin American fares. The price index for export air passenger fares advanced 25.7 percent 
between April 2017 and April 2018, the largest 12-month rise since the index rose 30.5 percent for the year 
ended July 2010. Export air freight prices increased 0.6 percent in April and 5.4 percent over the past year. 

Import and Export Price Index data for May are scheduled for release on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. 
(EDT).

                                                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 - Indexes for import and export air passenger fares calculate changes in the 
average revenue received per passenger by foreign carriers from U.S. residents and by U.S. carriers from 
foreign residents, respectively. Data are obtained from an airline consulting service and report on tickets 
sold by travel agencies, travel websites, and tickets sold directly by the airlines. Taxes and fees are 
included in both the import and export air passenger fares indexes. Import air passenger fares data have 
used the airline consulting service source since September 2008. Before April 2018, the export air 
passenger fares data were collected directly by BLS from U.S. airlines. 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. 

Relative Importance - A relative importance is a specific index's price-updated value share (expressed 
as a percentage) of overall imports or exports at a specific point in time. Relative importance values are 
affected by the trade weights at the point indexes are reweighted and index changes relative to other 
indexes since the reweight point. If an index is rising in value relative to other indexes over time, the 
relative importance will increase as well. 
 
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.  
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