U.S. Census Bureau News U.S. Department of Commerce • Washington, D.C. 20230 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8:30 A.M. EDT TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2011 For information contact: CB11-60 Phone: (301) 763-3629, Email: ftd.profile.list@census.gov Jeffrey McHugh, Ryan Coleman, Andreana Able or Joseph DeCampo A Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies, 2008 - 2009 The U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, releases the report, A Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies, 2008 - 2009. This is the first report to include information regarding U.S. importers. It provides information on identified companies and their known export or import value. Identified U.S. companies are defined as companies that can be linked to import or export transactions. The known value is the value of export or import transactions linked to specific companies. The decreases in known export and import values correspond with the overall decrease of trade in 2009; total export value decreased by 18.0 percent and total import value fell by 25.9 percent. The number of identified exporters fell by 4.8 percent in 2009 and the known export value decreased by 18.4 percent compared to 2008. The number of identified importers decreased by 5.3 percent in 2009 and the known import value decreased by 23.4 percent. In 2009 the identified U.S. exporters accounted for $939 billion in exports or 88.9 percent of the total value of exported goods ($1,056 billion). In 2009 the number of identified U.S. exporters was 275.8 thousand, down from the revised 2008 estimate of 289.7 thousand. In 2008, the known value was revised to $1,151 billion. In 2009 identified U.S. importers accounted for 2009 Value, % of 2009 Value, 2008 Value, % of 2008 Value Total exports 1,056,043 100.0 1,287,442 100.0 Low-value estimates 23,911 2.3 29,982 2.3 US & foreign governments 1,462 0.1 1,889 0.1 Revisions -889 <-0.1 -12,695 -1.0 Identified exporters* (known value) 938,794 88.9 1,150,903 89.4 Exported merchandise in both 2008 and 2009 909,061 86.1 1,118,967 86.9 Exported merchandise in only 2008 or only 2009 29,733 2.8 31,936 2.5 Unidentified exports 92,766 8.8 117,361 9.1 Total Imports 1,559,625 100.0 2,103,641 100.0 Low-value estimates 16,963 1.1 22,788 1.1 Articles exported and returned, not advanced or improved in condition 34,474 2.2 37,360 1.8 Revisions 1,749 0.1 3,499 0.2 Identified importers* (known value) 1,350,406 86.6 1,763,879 83.8 Imported merchandise in both 2008 and 2009 1,309,416 84.0 1,714,082 81.5 Imported merchandise in only 2008 or only 2009 40,990 2.6 49,797 2.4 Unidentified imports /1 156,033 10.0 276,114 13.1 *Number of Identified Companies 2009 2008 Both Years 2009 Only 2008 Only Exporters 275,843 289,711 185,526 90,317 104,185 Importers 179,831 189,935 129,551 50,280 60,384 * Note: Percentages may not add up to 100.0 percent due to rounding /1 Includes Canadian electricity and natural gas imports $1,350 billion in imports or 86.6 percent of the total value of imported goods ($1,560 billion). The number of identified U.S. importers was 179.8 thousand, down from 189.9 thousand in 2008. Table 1: Distribution of Exports and Imports by Identified and Unidentified Companies (Value in millions of dollars. Details may not sum to total due to rounding.) Because not all shipments can be linked to specific companies, the number of exporters and importers may be understated. The total export value that could not be linked to specific companies totaled 11.1 percent in 2009 and 10.6 percent in 2008. This portion of the total export value includes exports by individuals, governments, low-value estimates, and information filed with missing, unknown, or incomplete company identifiers. The total import value that could not be linked to specific companies totaled 13.4 percent in 2009 and 16.2 percent in 2008. This portion of the total import value includes imports by individuals, articles exported and returned (the condition was not advanced), low-value estimates, electricity and natural gas imports from Canada, and information filed with missing, unknown, or incomplete company identifiers. Export and import values are taken from the detailed transactions used to compile the official U.S. trade statistics. Company size and type information are taken from administrative records and census or survey data on file with the Census Bureau. The overall findings for 2009 and 2008 are shown in Table 1, which shows the proportion of exports and imports that were successfully matched to companies in the 2009 Business Register. For exports, the 2008 figures in this report are revised from data released in the 2007-2008 exporter profile. The revisions are based on the ability to match additional records. Who Exports and Imports? During 2009, 9.7 percent (26.8 thousand) of all identified exporters were multiple location companies; these companies accounted for 74.9 percent of the known export value (Exhibit 1a). In contrast, 249.1 thousand single location companies (making up 90.3 percent of the exporting companies) contributed 25.1 percent of the known export value. In 2009 10.2 percent of all identified importers were multiple location companies; these companies accounted for 74.9 percent of the known import value (Exhibit 1d). Single location companies, making up 89.8 percent of the importing companies, contributed 25.1 percent of the known import value. Trade with related parties accounted for 35.9 percent of the known export value by multiple location companies compared to 15.0 percent by single location companies (Exhibit 3a). Exhibit 1a shows that manufacturers accounted for the largest portion of the 2009 known value, 59.9 percent, with 25.5 percent of the identified exporters. “Other companies” and wholesalers accounted for 16.3 percent and 23.2 percent of the known export value, respectively; unclassified exporters accounted for the remainder. For imports, manufacturers accounted for the largest portion of 2009 known value, 44.5 percent with 19.6 percent of the known importers. “Other companies” and wholesalers accounted for 21.6 percent and 33.4 percent of the known import value (Exhibit 1d), respectively; unclassified companies accounted for the remainder of the known value. The “other companies” category includes manufacturers of prepackaged software and books; brokers or freight forwarders and other transportation and warehousing firms, which often act as agents for the true exporter; business, engineering, and management services; oil and gas extraction companies; coal mining companies; and communication services companies. The number of multiple location exporting companies fell by 5.4 percent in 2009. All company types decreased; manufacturers decreased by 4.1 percent, wholesalers by 1.8 percent, “other companies” by 7.1 percent, and “unclassified companies” by just 13.7 percent (Exhibit 1c). The number of multiple location importing companies decreased by 4.5 percent in 2009. Manufacturers fell by 6.2 percent, wholesalers by 3.2 percent, “other companies” by 6.9 percent, and “unclassified companies” by 19.0 percent (Exhibit 1f). The 2009 Export and Import Concentration by Top Companies bar chart shows the concentration by percent of known export and import values. Of the known export value for 2009, 59.0 percent was accounted for by the top 500 companies. Just less than half of the total known export value was accounted for by the top 250 exporters. For imports, 67.7 percent of the known value was accounted for by the top 500 companies and 59.7 percent of the total was accounted for by the top 250 importers. For exports, the top 100 manufacturers contributed nearly one-third of the total known export value and over one-half of all exports by manufacturers (Exhibit 2a). For imports, the top 100 manufacturers contributed 30.7 percent of the total known import value and over two-thirds of all imports by manufacturers (Exhibit 2c). Among the company types, the top 50 manufacturers accounted for 42.2 percent of the known export value of the manufacturing sector. The top 50 companies represented 34.7 percent of the known export value for wholesalers and nearly 36.7 percent of the known value for “other companies” (Exhibit 2a). For imports, the top 50 importing manufacturers accounted for 59.0 percent of the known value of this sector. The top 50 companies represented 36.8 percent of the known import value for wholesalers and about 62.7 percent of the known value for “other companies” (Exhibit 2c). The 2009 Number of Companies that Export or Import Venn diagram shows the number of identified companies with both exports and imports. During 2009, 78,940 companies both exported and imported goods, 196,903 companies only exported goods, and 100,891 companies only imported goods. The companies that both exported and imported in 2009 accounted for 85.6 percent of the known export value and 92.7 percent of the known import value. Among companies that both imported and exported goods, 30.7 percent were manufacturers, 48.1 percent were wholesalers, and 20.8 percent were “other” (Exhibits 1a, 1d, and 1g). Large-Sized Companies Large identified companies (those employing 500 or more workers) were responsible for 67.2 percent of the known export value and 68.1 percent of known import value. They represented only 2.4 percent of all identified exporters and 2.9 percent of all known importers (Exhibits 1a and 1d). Large companies dominated manufacturers’ exports, with 3.6 percent of manufacturing exporters (2,557 of 70,331) accounting for 82.8 percent of manufacturing export value ($466 billion of $562 billion). Similarly, large wholesalers, who comprise 0.8 percent of the wholesalers who export, accounted for 38.9 percent of the value of known exports by wholesalers. Large companies in the “other” category represented 3.1 percent of the identified exporters in the “other” category, and 52.2 percent of the known value. Large manufacturers’ export value to related parties represented 38.5 percent of the manufacturers’ total (Exhibit 3a). Large companies comprised 6.4 percent of manufacturing importers (2,264 of 35,243) accounting for 87.1 percent of manufacturing import value ($524 billion of $601 billion). Large wholesalers, who comprise approximately 0.8 percent of the wholesalers who import, accounted for 43.2 percent of the value of known imports by wholesalers. Large companies represented 3.7 percent of identified importers in the “other” category (Exhibit 1d). Large companies accounted for 5.7 percent of those that both exported and imported goods in 2009. These large companies represented 77.1 percent of the known export value and 73.0 percent of the known import value. (Exhibit 1g). Small- and Medium-Sized Companies Small- and medium-sized companies (those employing fewer than 500 workers, including number of employees unknown) comprised 97.6 percent of all identified exporters and 97.1 percent of all identified importers. They account for 32.8 percent and 31.9 percent of the known export and import value, respectively. The following findings were extracted from Exhibits 1a, 1d and 1g: * 96.4 percent of manufacturing exporters were small- or medium-sized companies; however they contributed just 17.2 percent of the sector's $562 billion in exports. 93.6 percent of manufacturing importers were small- or medium-sized; they accounted for 12.9 percent of the sector’s $602 billion in imports. * 99.2 percent of exporting wholesalers were small- or medium-sized companies; they accounted for 61.1 percent of the sector’s $218 billion in exports. 99.2 percent of wholesaler importers were small- or medium-sized; they contributed 56.8 percent of the sector’s $451 billion in imports. * 96.9 percent of “other companies” with exports were small- or medium-sized companies. 96.3 percent of importing “other companies” were small- or medium-sized. * Among companies that both exported and imported in 2009, small- or medium-sized companies accounted for 94.3 percent of such companies, accounting for 22.9 percent of the known export value and 27.0 percent of the known import value. Export and Import Markets The country groups used in the 2009 Profile have been revised from those used in earlier Profiles (Exhibits 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, and 5h). Countries were added to the Euro Area and Asia Near East, and removed from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Please refer to World Area Country Groupings for Exhibit 5. Most identified companies exported to (58.0 percent) or imported from (60.8 percent) only one foreign country. A small percentage of exporters, 0.4 percent, shipped to 50 or more countries; these companies accounted for 48.3 percent of the known export value (Exhibit 4a). Less than 0.1 percent of importing companies imported from 50 or more countries, accounting for 18.9 percent of the known import value (Exhibit 4c). In 2009 82.6 percent of all exporting companies exported to at least one of the top 25 U.S. trading partners. The largest number of identified companies exported to Canada, followed by Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China (Exhibit 5a). 89.5 percent of all importing companies imported from at least one of the top 25 trading partners. The largest number of identified companies imported from China, followed by Taiwan, Germany, Italy, and India (Exhibit 5d). U.S. companies that both exported to and imported from Canada represented 69.0 percent of known export value to Canada in 2009 ($107 billion of $155 billion). Companies exporting to and importing from China represented 67.1 percent of known import value from China ($187 billion of $278 billion). The top 5 countries for identified U.S. companies that had both exports and imports in 2009 were China, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico (Exhibits 5a, 5d, and 5g). Exports and Imports by State The Census Bureau releases data on exports by state based on the origin of movement (OM). The OM data series is based on where the goods began their journey to the port of export as reported with the electronic export information. Similarly, import statistics by state are based on the state of destination (SD). This is the reported state, U.S. territory or U.S. possession where the merchandise is destined. Exhibit 6 shows the number of companies exporting from and importing to each state during 2008 and 2009 based upon these definitions. (Note that the same company can be shown as exporting to or importing from multiple states.) * In 2009, the top five states, based on the number of identified exporting companies, were California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Illinois. Exporters in these five states represented 41.5 percent of the total known export value. For importing companies, the top five states were California, New York, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey. Importers in these states accounted for 47.6 percent of the total known import value. * States/territories recording the largest decreases in known export value in 2009 were New Mexico (56.2 percent), South Dakota (40.9 percent), District of Columbia (33.9 percent), Kansas (33.0 percent), and Arizona (29.2 percent). Wyoming (46.8 percent), New Hampshire (42.9 percent), Montana (40.8 percent), District of Columbia (39.4 percent), and North Dakota (38.5 percent) had the largest decreases in known import value. Comparison of 2008 and 2009 Results The relative proportions of exports and imports accounted for by manufacturers, wholesalers, and “other companies” based upon both number of companies and known value remained consistent from 2008 to 2009. Below are a number of noteworthy year-to-year changes (Exhibits 1c, 1f, 5c, and 5f): * The known export value decreased by 18.4 percent. The number of identified exporting companies decreased by 13,868 or just less than 4.8 percent. The single location companies decreased by 12,347 and the multiple location companies decreased by 1,521. * The known import value fell by 23.4 percent. The number of identified importing companies decreased by 10,104 or 5.3 percent. The single location companies decreased by 9,229 and the multiple location companies decreased by 875. * The number of small- and medium-sized exporting companies decreased by 4.7 percent from 282.6 thousand in 2008 to 269.3 thousand in 2009, while the number of large companies decreased by 7.5 percent from 7,108 to 6,574. * The number of small- and medium-sized importing companies decreased by 5.2 percent from 184.3 thousand in 2008 to 174.6 thousand in 2009, while the number of large companies decreased by 8.0 percent from 5,674 to 5,219. * The number of exporting wholesalers fell by nearly 1.8 percent from 95.3 thousand in 2008 to 93.6 thousand in 2009. Additionally, the number of exporting manufacturers decreased by 4.1 percent from 73.3 thousand in 2008 to 70.3 thousand in 2009. * The number of importing wholesalers fell by 3.2 percent from 84.8 thousand in 2008 to 82.0 thousand in 2009. Additionally, the number of importing manufacturers decreased by 6.2 percent from 37.6 thousand in 2008 to 35.2 thousand in 2009. * Among the top 25 U.S. export trading partners, Belgium (11.2 percent), Germany (9.4 percent), Italy (9.4 percent), and Canada (8.7 percent) showed the largest percentage decreases in the number of identified exporting companies. Only 3 of the top 25 U.S. export trading partners saw an increase in the number of identified exporting companies between 2008 and 2009: Saudi Arabia (4.4 percent), Columbia (1.2 percent) and Chile (1.2 percent). * Among the top 25 U.S. import trading partners, Venezuela (19.3 percent), Singapore (13.2 percent), Brazil (12.1 percent), the Netherlands (9.7 percent), and France (9.7 percent) showed the largest percentage decreases in the number of identified importing companies. Some portion of these changes may reflect changes in the match rate rather than an actual change in the number of companies. During the process of identifying individual companies, it was not possible to investigate every unmatched case. Priority was given to identifying unmatched companies having high values of trade. As a result, the information on small importers and exporters is most likely understated. Also, users should not assume that the unidentified companies reflected the same distribution of company types and sizes as the identified (known) exporters and importers. Comparisons between the number of companies importing and exporting in given categories or different years might be somewhat misleading due to differences in the percent of value we were able to match to specific companies. Copies of the importer and exporter profiles are available by calling (301)763-2227 or at http://www.census.gov/foreign- trade/aip/index.html#profile. TABLE OF CONTENTS Exhibit 1a. 2009 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size 9 Exhibit 1b. 2008 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size 11 Exhibit 1c. Percent Difference Between the 2008 and 2009 Export Results 13 Exhibit 1d. 2009 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size 15 Exhibit 1e. 2008 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size 17 Exhibit 1f. Percent Difference Between the 2008 and 2009 Import Results 19 Exhibit 1g. 2009 Exports and Imports by Company Type and Employment Size for Companies that both Export and Import 21 Exhibit 1h. 2008 Exports and Imports by Company Type and Employment Size for Companies that both Export and Import 23 Exhibit 2a. Top Companies’ Share of the 2009 Export Market by Company Type 25 Exhibit 2b. Top Companies’ Share of the 2008 Export Market by Company Type 26 Exhibit 2c. Top Companies’ Share of the 2009 Import Market by Company Type 27 Exhibit 2d. Top Companies’ Share of the 2008 Import Market by Company Type 28 Exhibit 3a. 2009 Exports to Related Parties by Company Type and Employment Size 29 Exhibit 3b. 2008 Exports to Related Parties by Company Type and Employment Size 31 Exhibit 4a. 2009 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries 33 Exhibit 4b. 2008 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries 34 Exhibit 4c. 2009 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size from Number of Partner Countries 35 Exhibit 4d. 2008 Imports by Company Type and Employment Size from Number of Partner Countries 36 Exhibit 5a. 2009 Exports by Company Employment Size to World Areas and Selected Countries 37 Exhibit 5b. 2008 Exports by Company Employment Size to World Areas and Selected Countries 39 Exhibit 5c. Percent Difference Between 2008 and 2009 Exports to World Areas and Selected Countries 41 Exhibit 5d. 2009 Imports by Company Employment Size from World Areas and Selected Countries 42 Exhibit 5e. 2008 Imports by Company Employment Size from World Areas and Selected Countries 44 Exhibit 5f. Percent Difference Between 2008 and 2009 Imports from World Areas and Selected Countries 46 Exhibit 5g. 2009 Exports and Imports for Selected Countries and World Areas by Employment Size, Only for Companies that both Imported from and Exported to Listed Countries and World Areas 47 Exhibit 5h. 2008 Exports and Imports for Selected Countries and World Areas by Employment Size, Only for Companies that both Imported from and Exported to Listed Countries and World Areas 49 Exhibit 6a. 2009 Exports by State of the Origin of Movement, Number of Exporting Companies, Value, and Percent Difference Between the 2008 and 2009 Results 51 Exhibit 6b. 2008 Exports by State of the Origin of Movement, Number of Exporting Companies, and Value 52 Exhibit 6c. 2009 Imports by State of Destination, Number of Importing Companies, Value, and Percent Difference Between the 2008 and 2009 Results 53 Exhibit 6d. 2008 Imports by State of Destination, Number of Importing Companies, and Value 54 Technical Documentation This section contains critical information on sources and reliability of data, as well as definitions of terms and methodological procedures that users should consider before attempting to interpret or analyze the statistical data presented in this report. Failure to do so may affect the result. NOTE: All percentages given for company size are based on known value. 6 8