Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until                                      USDL-17-1505
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                              U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - OCTOBER 2017                               

U.S. import prices advanced 0.2 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, after 
increasing 0.8 percent in September. U.S. export prices recorded no change in October, after increasing 0.7 
percent in September.

Imports

All Imports: Import prices increased 0.2 percent in October, after rising 0.8 percent in September. The 
price index for all imports rose 1.6 percent over the past 3 months. Higher prices for fuel and nonfuel 
imports contributed to the overall rise in import prices for October. U.S. import prices increased 2.5 percent 
for the year ended in October.  

Fuel Imports: The price index for fuel imports advanced 1.4 percent in October following a 5.5-percent rise 
in September. Fuel import prices increased 11.1 percent over the past 3 months. The October increase was 
driven by higher petroleum prices which advanced 1.7 percent, more than offsetting a 6.7-percent drop in 
natural gas prices. Fuel import prices rose 13.2 percent over the past 12 months; petroleum prices were the 
primary contributor, advancing 14.9 percent. Import prices for natural gas fell 18.2 percent over the past 
year.   

All Imports Excluding Fuel: Prices for nonfuel imports rose 0.2 percent in October following a 0.3-percent 
advance in September. The increase in October was driven by nonfuel industrial supplies and materials 
prices which advanced 0.9 percent; higher prices for capital goods also contributed to the overall increase. 
Import prices for automotive vehicles; consumer goods; and foods, feeds, and beverages all declined in 
October limiting the monthly advance. The price index for nonfuel imports rose 1.4 percent over the past 12 
months, the largest over-the-year increase since a 2.0-percent advance for the year ended March 2012.

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

Exports

All Exports: U.S. export prices recorded no change in October following 0.7-percent increases in 
September and August. The index has not recorded a decline since a 0.1-percent drop in June. Higher prices 
for agricultural exports were offset by lower prices for nonagricultural exports. The price index for exports 
advanced 2.7 percent over the past year.

Agricultural Exports: The price index for agricultural exports increased 1.9 percent in October, the largest 
monthly rise since a 2.5-percent advance in June 2016. Higher vegetable prices drove the October increase, 
more than offsetting lower prices for soybeans and meats. Agricultural export prices increased 3.5 percent 
over the past year. Increasing vegetable and meat prices were the primary contributors to the 12-month 
advance.

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: Nonagricultural export prices declined 0.3 percent in October 
following a 0.9-percent rise in September. In October, the index recorded the first monthly decline since a 
0.4-percent decrease in May. Lower prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials drove the 
decrease, and automotive prices also contributed to the overall decline. In contrast, capital goods and 
consumer goods prices increased in October. Despite the monthly decline in October, the price index for 
nonagricultural exports increased 2.5 percent over the past year. Higher nonagricultural industrial supplies 
and materials prices were the primary contributor to higher prices over the 12-month period.

                                          SELECTED OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS                                           

Import Prices

Imports by Locality of Origin: Import prices from China recorded no change in October following a 0.3- 
percent decline in September. Over the past year prices from China fell 0.8 percent. The price index for 
imports from Japan fell 0.3 percent in October, after a 0.1-percent rise in September. Import prices from 
Japan decreased 0.8 percent over the past year, the largest 12-month decline since a 1.1-percent drop for the 
year ended in May 2016. Import prices from Canada rose 1.4 percent for the second consecutive month in 
October; those were the largest advances since a 2.0-percent rise in January. Import prices from the 
European Union rose 0.1 percent in October and prices for imports from Mexico fell 0.2 percent. 

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Import prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials 
rose 0.9 percent in October following a 1.5-percent advance in September. The index increased 7.9 percent 
over the past 12 months, the largest over-the-year rise since an 8.1-percent advance in November 2011. 
Higher import prices for chemicals and selected building materials drove the October advance. 

Finished Goods: Import prices for the major finished goods categories were mixed in October. The price 
index for capital goods rose 0.2 percent in October and recorded a 0.6-percent increase over the past year. 
Prices for automotive vehicles decreased 0.2 percent in October and consumer goods prices fell 0.1 percent. 

Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: The import price index for foods, feeds, and beverages fell 0.2 percent in 
October. A 4.3-percent drop in prices for feedstuff and food grains and a 2.3-percent drop in vegetable 
prices were the main contributors to the decline. 

Transportation Services: The index for import air passenger fares rose 8.8 percent in October following an 
8.5-percent increase in September. The October advance was the largest monthly increase since the index 
rose 8.9 percent in June 2015. European air passenger fares rose 9.9 percent driving the overall advance. 
Despite the recent increases, import air passenger fares decreased 1.4 percent over the past year. The price 
index for import air freight fell 4.0 percent in October and recorded a 5.4-percent increase over the past 12 
months.

Export Prices

Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: Nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials 
export prices fell 1.1 percent in October, after increasing 2.8 percent in September. The October drop was 
the first decline since a 1.4-percent decrease in May. Lower prices for fuel and gold led the October decline.

Finished Goods: Export prices for capital goods rose 0.3 percent in October following a 0.1-percent 
advance the previous month. The October increase was driven by a 1.3-percent advance in the price index 
for computers, peripherals, and semiconductors. Export prices for automotive vehicles fell 0.2 percent in 
October and consumer goods prices ticked up 0.1 percent. 

Transportation Services: Export air passenger fares increased 3.9 percent in October, driven by a 3.1-
percent increase in European fares. The price index for export air passenger fares rose 2.3 percent over the 
past year. Export air freight prices advanced 3.0 percent in October and 5.4 percent over the past 12 months.
		
Import and Export Price Index data for November 2017 are scheduled for release on Thursday, December 14, 
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. 

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 
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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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