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

Prices for U.S. imports increased 0.1 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 
today, following a 0.2-percent decline the previous month. The September advance was led by higher fuel 
prices. U.S. export prices rose 0.3 percent in September, after decreasing 0.8 percent in August.  

Imports

All Imports: U.S. import prices resumed an upward trend in September, increasing 0.1 percent, after a 0.2-
percent decline in August. Prior to August, import prices had risen in each of the previous 5 months, 
advancing 3.1 percent between February and July. Despite those increases, import prices continue to decline 
on a 12-month basis, falling 1.1 percent between September 2015 and September 2016. The 1.1 percent 
decrease was the smallest drop on an over-the-year basis since the index fell 0.3 percent in August 2014. 

Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices rose 1.1 percent in September, after a 2.4-percent drop in August and a 
2.1-percent decline in July. The September advance was led by a 1.2-percent increase in petroleum prices, 
although a 0.8-percent rise in natural gas prices also contributed to the overall advance. The September rise 
in natural gas prices followed a 10.3-percent advance in August and a 28.0-percent increase in July. Prices 
for import fuel fell 2.9 percent for the year ended in September. 

All Imports Excluding Fuel: The price index for nonfuel imports recorded no change in September, after 
edging down 0.1 percent the previous month. In September, higher prices for capital goods; foods, feeds, 
and beverages; and automotive vehicles offset lower nonfuel industrial supplies and materials prices. 
Nonfuel prices declined 0.7 percent over the past year, driven by lower prices for nonfuel industrial supplies 
and materials, and each of the major finished goods categories. 

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

Exports

All Exports: The price index for overall exports increased 0.3 percent in September, as rising 
nonagricultural prices more than offset declining agricultural prices. The advance followed a 0.8-percent 
drop the previous month and resumed an upward trend dating back to April. U.S. export prices fell 1.5 
percent for the year ended in September, the smallest 12-month decline since the index decreased 0.7 
percent in October 2014. 

Agricultural Exports: Agricultural prices fell 1.0 percent in September, after a 3.5-percent drop the 
previous month. A 6.8-percent decrease in nut prices, a 2.2-percent decline in soybean prices, and a 4.2-
percent decrease in corn prices more than offset higher prices for vegetables and fruit. The price index for 
agricultural exports declined 3.2 percent over the past 12 months. Lower prices for nuts, corn, and wheat 
drove the 12-month decrease in agricultural prices. 

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: Prices for nonagricultural exports increased 0.4 percent in September 
following a 0.6-percent decrease in August. Rising prices for both nonagricultural industrial supplies and 
materials and finished goods contributed to the September increase in nonagricultural prices. Despite the 
September advance, nonagricultural export prices decreased 1.4 percent over the past year. Both 
nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials as well as finished goods decreased between September 
2015 and September 2016.

                                         SELECTED SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS 

Import Prices

Imports by Locality of Origin: Prices for imports from China recorded no change in September, after 
declining 0.2 percent in August. Import prices from China have not risen on a monthly basis since the index 
ticked up 0.1 percent in December 2014, and prices for imports from China fell 1.7 percent for the year 
ended in September. The price index for imports from Japan rose 0.1 percent in September and last recorded 
a monthly decline when the index edged down 0.1 percent in January. Import prices from Japan advanced 
0.9 percent over the past 12 months. Prices for imports from the European Union and from Mexico each 
increased 0.2 percent in September and import prices from Canada ticked up 0.1 percent. 

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Nonfuel industrial supplies and materials prices declined 0.6 
percent following a 0.3-percent advance the previous month. Both the September decrease and August 
increase were driven by unfinished metal prices which fell 1.7 percent in September, after rising 1.5 percent 
the previous month. 

Finished Goods: Finished goods prices were mostly up in September. Automotive vehicles prices advanced 
0.2 percent. Capital goods prices also rose, increasing 0.1 percent, the first monthly advance since the index 
ticked up 0.1 percent in June 2014. The price index for consumer goods recorded no change in September. 

Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: Prices for import foods, feeds, and beverages advanced 0.6 percent in 
September, after declining 0.9 percent in August. The September increase was led by a 9.1-percent rise in 
vegetable prices. 

Transportation Services: Import air passenger fares rose 4.2 percent in September, after falling 6.0 percent 
in August and 3.9 percent in July. The September upturn was driven by a 10.0-percent advance in European 
fares. Despite the September rise, import air passenger fares declined 0.8 percent over the past year. The 
price index for import air freight increased 1.2 percent in September and declined 3.2 percent over the past 
12 months.

Export Prices

Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: Nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials 
prices rose 1.3 percent in September, after decreasing 1.3 percent the previous month. Fuel prices were the 
largest contributor to both months, advancing 5.5 percent in September following a 4.9-percent decrease the 
previous month. 

Finished Goods: Each of the major finished goods indexes either increased or recorded no change in 
September. The price indexes for consumer goods and automotive vehicles each rose, advancing 0.2 percent 
and 0.1 percent, respectively. Prices for export capital goods recorded no change in September following a 
0.1-percent decline in August and a 0.2-percent drop in July. 

Transportation Services: Export air passenger fares decreased 11.1 percent in September following a 4.6-
percent increase the previous month. The September drop was the largest monthly decline since the index 
decreased 13.5 percent in February and was led by a 24.7-percent fall in Asian fares. The index for export 
air passenger fares declined 6.6 percent for the year ended in September. Export air freight prices recorded 
no change in September and fell 2.0 percent over the past year. 

Import and Export Price Index data for October 2016 are scheduled for release on Tuesday, November 15, 
2016 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.