Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until				    USDL-16-1826
8:30 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Technical information: (202) 691-7101 * MXPinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/mxp
Media contact:	       (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

			  U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - AUGUST 2016

U.S. import prices declined 0.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, after 
ticking up 0.1 percent in July. The August downturn was driven by lower fuel prices. Prices for U.S. exports 
decreased 0.8 percent in August following a 0.2-percent increase in July.  

Imports

All Imports: Prices for U.S. imports fell 0.2 percent in August, the first monthly decrease since the index 
fell 0.5 percent in February. Over the 5 months previous to August, import prices advanced 3.1 percent. The 
August decline was led by falling fuel prices which decreased for the second consecutive month. The price 
index for U.S. imports decreased 2.2 percent for the year ended in August, after declining 11.4 percent over 
the previous 12-month period.                     

Fuel Imports: Fuel prices declined 2.1 percent in August following a 2.5-percent drop in July. The July 
decrease was the first monthly decline since the index fell 6.8 percent in February. Both the August and July 
decreases were driven by lower petroleum prices which fell 2.8 percent in August and 3.6 percent in July. In 
contrast, prices for natural gas increased 12.1 percent in August and 28.0 percent the previous month. 
Import fuel prices declined 12.2 percent between August 2015 and August 2016, and the price indexes for 
petroleum and natural gas each fell over the same period, 12.9 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.  

All Imports Excluding Fuel: Nonfuel prices recorded no change in August, after rising 0.3 percent in July. 
In August, higher prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials offset lower prices for automotive 
vehicles; foods, feeds, and beverages; and consumer goods. The price index for nonfuel imports decreased 
0.9 percent over the past year, and falling prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials and each of the 
major finished goods categories all contributed to the decline. 
  
Table A. Percent change in Import and Export Price Indexes, selected categories

Exports

All Exports: U.S. export prices decreased 0.8 percent in August, the first monthly drop since the index 
edged down 0.1 percent in March and the largest decline since the index fell 0.9 percent in January. In 
August, lower prices for both agricultural and nonagricultural exports contributed to the overall drop in 
export prices. The price index for U.S. exports decreased 2.4 percent over the past year, the smallest 12-
month decline since the index fell 1.7 percent in November 2014. 

Agricultural Exports: The price index for agricultural exports decreased 3.4 percent in August, the largest 
monthly drop since the index fell 4.2 percent in August 2013. The August 2016 decline was led by a 9.5-
percent decrease in soybean prices, although falling prices for fruit, vegetables, corn, and meat also 
contributed to the overall drop. Agricultural prices fell 3.5 percent over the past 12 months.      

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: Prices for nonagricultural exports decreased 0.4 percent in August, 
after rising 0.2 percent the previous month. The August decline in nonagricultural export prices was the first 
monthly drop since the index fell 0.6 percent in February. Lower prices for industrial supplies and materials, 
automotive vehicles, capital goods, and consumer goods all contributed to the August downturn. The price 
index for nonagricultural exports decreased 2.2 percent over the past 12 months, primarily driven by a 5.3-
percent decline in nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials prices. 
 

   					SELECTED AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS

Import Prices

Imports by Locality of Origin: Import prices from China declined 0.2 percent in August, led by a 1.0-
percent drop in communications equipment manufacturing. Prices for imports from China have not recorded 
a monthly advance since the index rose 0.1 percent in December 2014; the index fell 1.9 percent over the 
past year. In August, import prices from Canada fell 0.9 percent; import prices from the European Union 
declined 0.3 percent; and import prices from Mexico decreased 0.2 percent. In contrast, the price index for 
imports from Japan increased 0.3 percent in August following a 0.2-percent advance the previous month. 
The August rise was the largest monthly increase since the index advanced 0.3 percent in August 2011, and 
the last time the index recorded a larger 1-month jump was a 0.5-percent increase in February 2011.  

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials advanced 
0.2 percent in August following a 1.6-percent increase the previous month. In August, a 1.4-percent rise in 
unfinished metals prices more than offset a 0.8-percent drop in chemicals prices.          
 
Finished Goods: Finished goods prices were mostly down in August. Automotive vehicles prices fell 0.2 
percent, driven by a 1.0-percent decline in the price index for engines and engine parts. Prices for consumer 
goods also fell in August, edging down 0.1 percent. Capital goods prices recorded no change in August as a 
0.7-percent decrease in computer prices offset increases for non-computer capital goods prices.  
    
Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: The price index for foods, feeds, and beverages decreased 0.5 percent in 
August, after increasing 3.1 percent in July. The August downturn was led by a 15.4-percent drop in 
feedstuff and foodgrain prices.                 

Transportation Services: Import air passenger fares fell 6.0 percent in August, the largest monthly decline 
since the index decreased 6.8 percent in January 2015. The August drop was led by an 8.5-percent decline in 
European fares and a 7.2-percent decrease in Asian fares. The index for import air passenger fares fell 9.1 
percent over the past 12 months. Import air freight prices rose 1.1 percent in August and declined 5.5 
percent over the past year.        

Export Prices

Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: Prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and 
materials declined 1.3 percent in August, after rising 0.9 percent in July. The August downturn was led by a 
4.3-percent decrease in fuel prices and a 1.1-percent drop in chemicals prices.         
 
Finished Goods: Each of the major finished goods categories recorded monthly decreases in August. Prices 
for automotive vehicles fell 0.5 percent in August, the largest 1-month drop since the index was first 
published monthly in December 1988. A 1.2-percent decline in passenger car prices was the largest 
contributor to the August decrease. The price indexes for capital goods and for consumer goods each edged 
down 0.1 percent in August.                  

Transportation Services: Export air passenger prices advanced 3.6 percent in August following a 4.0-
percent rise in July and a 3.4-percent increase in June. The August advance was driven by a 27.1-percent 
increase in Asian fares which more than offset a 10.2-percent drop in European fares. Despite the recent 
rises, export air passenger fares decreased 8.0 percent over the past year. The price index for export air 
freight ticked up 0.1 percent in August and decreased 2.6 percent over the past 12 months.              
		
Import and Export Price Index data for September 2016 are scheduled for release on Thursday, October 13, 
2016 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 - 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.