Question:
How should I cite the data I use from this query in a publication?
Answer:
Please use the following format when citing this query: NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology, Foreign Trade Query, Available at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/foss, Accessed mm/dd/yyyy


Question:
Where do the trade categories, or "products," come from?
Answer:
For imports the categories of trade products presented here represent the categories of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, developed by the United States International Trade Commission. https://usitc.gov/harmonized_tariff_information For exports the categories are from the U.S. Census Bureau “Schedule B: Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign Commodities Exported from the United States”. This classification system mirrors the HTS but has some differences. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/index.html


Question:
How do you define Imports, Exports, and Re-exports
Answer:
Imports The imports in this database represent. “Imports for consumption” are a combination of entries into the United States for immediate consumption and withdrawals from customs-bonded warehouses. These data reflect the actual entry into U.S. consumption channels of commodities that originated outside the United States. The import trade data may include a substantial amount of U.S. domestic fishery catch that was exported for further processing and returned to the United States as an import in a processed form. Note that these returned products are still correctly considered “imports” even though the fish are of domestic origin. At this point NMFS is unable to estimate the amount of this “circular trade” Exports Exports may include merchandise of domestic and foreign origin. The census defines “domestic merchandise” to include commodities grown, produced, or manufactured in the United States. For statistical purposes, domestic exports also include commodities of foreign origin that have been changed in the United States from the form in which they were imported, or that have been enhanced in value by further manufacture in the Unites States. Re-exports Re-exported “foreign” products are commodities that have entered the United States as imports and not been sold and, at the time of re-export, are in substantially the same condition as when imported. Items imported for sale in the United States but later resold overseas, however, are recorded as exports of domestic goods rather than as re-exports.


Question:
Where do the value data come from and what do they include?
Answer:
For exports and re-exports, the database uses free alongside ship value: the value at the port of export, based on the transaction price including inland freight, insurance, and other charges incurred in placing the merchandise alongside the carrier. Free alongside ship value excludes the cost of loading the merchandise, freight, insurance, and other charges or transportation costs beyond the port of export. For imports, the database uses customs value: the price actually paid or payable for merchandise when sold for export to the United States, excluding U.S. import duties, freight, insurance, and other charges incurred in bringing the merchandise to the United States. This value is close to free alongside ship value.


Question:
Where do these data come from?
Answer:
These data are produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, as part of their Foreign Trade Data Series that covers all Merchandise Trade (FT900). These data are a subset of Census data set that includes only fishery relevant products. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/index.html


Question:
How can I see all of the products for a certain species?
Answer:
Trade categories are created on the basis of trade products rather than fishery species. Often, several species are combined together into a single category. In these cases we cannot subdivide the categories based on species.