UTO Help: New User Guide

Help Topic:

USA Trade Online contains a lot of data. This New User Guide will walk you through the steps of building your first report and exploring the customization features available.

Step 1 – Data Source Selection

Once you've logged into your account, the first screen you'll see is the Data Source Selection screen (Figure A). From this screen, you may choose between imports, exports, or both using the Harmonized System (HS) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for your Commodity classification. Then you may select District, Port, or State trade statistics.

Figure A: The Data Source Selection Screen
USA Trade Online Data Source Selection screen

For this example, Trade by Commodity - Exports has been selected. Each standard report offers current year-to-date and 4 previous full years worth of data. However, Trade by Commodity reports go a step further and offer the following:

Current Month
Previous Month
Percent Growth between Current and Previous Month
Current Cumulative Year to Date (YTD)
Previous Cumulative YTD
Percent Growth between Current and Previous Cumulative YTD
Current Full Year Available and 3 Previous Years
Percent Growth between Current Full Year and 3 Previous Years

To modify a time period associated with your report, use the Time dimension option.

Step 2 – Commodity Selection

The first option you will have is for commodity. You want to de-select “All Commodities” (click the red

beside “All commodities” as shown below) and then search for your commodity number or name in the search box to the right. Type in your search term and then hit enter.

Figure B: Searching the Commodity Selection
Search commodity selection screen for bicycles

You will see a list of results from which to choose. Simply click on the empty box to select an option from the list. Please note that quantity data is only available at the 10-digit HS level.

Figure C: Search Results for "bicycle"

Step 3 – Country Selection

Now, using the Report Contents window on the left, we want to make our Country selections. Much like with the Commodity selection screen, . There are three country groupings to choose from collectively or individually: World Total, All Geographic Regions (World Total), and International Organizations and Trade Agreements. Click on the

to expand any of these groupings to view sub-groups and/or individual countries. If you would like to remove all pre-selected countries to only select a few, you may do so by clicking the

beside "World Total" or under the word "All".

Figure D: Removing Country Pre-Selections

To select a country group, several countries, or a single country, click on the empty box in front of the Country name. For searching and other tips, visit the Country help page.

Figure E: Selecting Countries

Now you are ready to view your report. Click the "Show Report" link in the right and your report will display.

Figure F: Sample Report

Step 4 – Report Features

The Report Features allow you to organize and format how your report displays. Some of the most popular ones are Suppress Values and Rearrange Report. Suppress Values can be used to remove empty cells, so that your report displays only countries and/or commodities with data. Rearrange Report allows you to specific what dimensions you want displayed in the rows and columns of your report.

Step 5 – Other Options
There are a wealth of reporting features and options available to better organize your data and make it visually appealing. You can play around with the different dimensions – commodity, country, measure, time, and (depending on which tables you selected) state, district or port – to satisfy your research needs. You can also sort your results in ascending and descending order, employ various charting options, calculate percent changes, and much more! These features are explained in the Report Features and Report Options sections of our online manual.