USA Trade Online contains a lot of data. This Quick Start 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
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
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 + box 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.
Report Contents – General
Once you've selected a report type from screen, you are able to modify the Report Contents, based upon the report "dimensions" offered. Dimensions make up the contents of your report. The options available may vary, the standard dimensions for all of the reports are: Measures, Commodity, Country, and Time.
Figure A: Report Options for HS District-level Data
Other Dimensions that may appear depending on the report type you've selected are: District, Port, and State.
Figure B: Selection Criteria for State Data
How Do I Change My Data Dimensions?
The X icon shows you which dimensions are represented in your report, and the identifies which Dimension you're currently modifying . In the Figure A example above, the district-level detail is not included in the report. To add this information, you would click on the word "District" in Report Contents and then select the customs district area(s) you want included. Likewise, you can change your selections in the other areas (commodity, country, measures, time) by clicking on the relevant dimension. More information on each Dimension is available here:
Commodity: Add or change your commodity selections...
Country: Pick and choose the trading partners you want...
District: View trade data for specific custom districts across the United States...
Measures: Tailor value, quantity, and price data...
Time: Specify the time series information you're seeking...
Port: View trade data for specific ports across the United States...
State Data: View trade data for specific states across the United States...
Commodity
The Commodity Selection screen allows you to focus in on the merchandise you want to analyze. There are two ways to locate your specific commodity(ies) on USA Trade Online: search or drill-down navigation.
Search
USA Trade Online is a full-text searchable database that uses natural-query language. You can search for a commodity by name or using a classification code. USA Trade Online has goods classified using either the Harmonized System (HS) - also known as the schedule B number - or North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Your selection from the Data Source Selection screen will determine which classification you see on the Commodity Selection page.
If you need assistance classifying your commodity, please use the Census Bureau's Schedule B Search or contact a commodity specialist at 1-800-549-0595 Option 2.
Figure A has the search box highlighted with the term "bicycle" entered as the commodity. Once you've entered your search term, you may click the search icon or hit ENTER to process your request. In Figure B, you see there were 17 items found that have "bicycle" in their descriptions, ranging from the tires used to a complete bicycle with two wheels. To select an item(s), click in the empty box in front of the description. You may enter another search term (the system will remember your previous selection), continue through other Report Contents, or click "Show Report" if you're ready to view your data.
Figure A: Searching on the Commodity Selection Page
Figure B: Search Results for "Bicycle"
Drill-Down Navigation
Another way to select commodity codes is through the drill-down navigation. USA Trade Online commodity codes are These codes are hierarchically arranged, increasing in detail with each level. In Figure C, we are looking at HS District level data that ranges from two- to ten-digit. By clicking on the icon in front of each description, you are able to go from a general category to a more specific commodity. The example demonstrates how to locate fishing rods by drilling down from the 2-digit code HS 95 to the 10-digit code HS 9507100040 for fishing rods.
Figure C: Example of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
To select an item(s), click in the empty box in front of the description. You may drill down and select another commodity(ies), continue through other Report Contents, or click "Show Report" if you're ready to view your data.
Other Selection Tools
User may create their own commodity classification groupings using the Custom Groups feature. You may also select commodities using one of the other tools (see Figure D) on the Commodity Selection Screen.
Figure D: Other Selection Tools
Members by Level
This option allows you to select an entire group of classifications by "digit-level". The levels vary depending on your report selection from the Data Source Selection screen.
Select/Clear All
To select all of the available commodity codes, click the directly underneath the "All" heading. Likewise, you can clear previous selections by clicking the to "Clear All".
Range
This option allows you easily select a range of commodities. Click the under the "Range..." heading. Once "Range" is selected, check the box next to the first and last commodity in your range of interest. This will automatically select all visible commodities within the specified range. Commodities hidden inside folders will not be selected. You must first open the folder and then proceed as instructed in this step. To de-select that specific range, click the under the "Range..." heading, then check the box next to the first and last commodity in your selected range.
You may also select an entire grouping of commodities (such as everything in the "01 Live Animals" classification) by clicking the beside the grouping. To de-select that group, simply click the beside the grouping.
Helpful Hints and Related Information
Remember, the commodity list scrolls down. If you've opened some folders and the commodity list is too long for one page, you can click on the Page down arrow at the top of the screen under the "Members" tab.
USA Trade Online automatically saves any changes you make to your commodity, country, district, state or port (as applicable), and measures criteria before you view the resulting table. Only the "Advanced Selection" option in the time dimension requires you to save your changes first.
Still can't find what you're looking for? Go to Frequently Asked Questions !
Custom Groups
Users can create their own customized groups for commodity and country. To get started, click on the "Custom Groups" tab in either the Commodity or Country Dimension Selection Screens. Note: Any items selected under the "Members" tab will not be included in your custom group.
Figure A: Selecting Custom Groups
To create a new group, click on the the
button. There are three steps to create your group, as shown in Figure B below:
Figure B: Creating a Custom Group
I. Create a unique name fro your group in the "Group Name" box.
II. Select the commodities to include in your group. To do this, click on the empty box in front of the commodity description. You can expand each commodity category by clicking the icon in front of each description. You may also search for a description name. Visit the Commodity Selection help page for more tips.
III. Click the 
button once you've selected all of your commodities.
Figure C: Custom Groups Displayed
Once your custom group has been created, it will be listed on the Custom Group tab (see Figure C). To view your custom group in report, click the "Show Report" link.
Figure D: Custom Grouping Displayed in Report
In Figure D, the annual exports of the custom group "My Commodities" to the World and individual countries are displayed. This report also used suppression and sorting.
Custom groups are specific to an individual report only. If you have save your report, you will always have access to your custom group. However, you are not able to transfer custom groups from report to report. Once you click "Return to Data Source Selection", you remove all selected items and start again.
The Country Selection screen allows you to customize your selection according to your market(s) of interest. 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.
Figure A: Country Selection Screen
Figure B: All Geographic Regions Expanded to Display India
To select an item(s), click in the empty box in front of the country name. Users may also create their own country groupings using the Custom Groups feature.
Search by Country Name
Enter a country name into the search box. Once you've entered your search term, you may click the search icon or hit ENTER to process your request. In Figure C.1, you see there are 4 results found for "China". There are multiple results because the search engine retrieves every instance "China" was listed amongst the Country Groupings. Each instance has the same value, but if you're interested in viewing the Hierarchy context, click on the (Figure C.2 displays the results).
Figure C.1 Search Results for "China"
Figure C.2 China Search Results with Hierarchy Context Displayed
After you've selected a country, you may enter another search term (the system will remember your previous selection), continue through other Report Contents, or click "Show Report" if you're ready to view your data.
USA Trade Online also allows you to track imports and exports traveling through more than 40 custom districts in the United States and its territories using the District Selection screen. A district is an area within the United States comprised of several ports in the same general location. For example, the Los Angeles district includes the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Los Angeles International Airport, El Segundo, Las Vegas, etc. Importantly, a district is not specific to a state and ports from different states can be in the same district. Notice in the above example that Las Vegas, Nevada is included in the Los Angeles district. It is important to note that you cannot extrapolate state-level information under this dimension.
In addition to the standard custom districts, you can also use this dimension to view data on low-value shipments and ships/vessels that leave/enter the United States under their own power, such as exported or imported cruise ships (select “Shipments Individually” and “Vessels Own Power,” respectively).
Figure A. District Selection Screen
Navigating the District Selections
USA Trade Online does not automatically include district detail in any of the report types. You must add this information by clicking "District" from the Report Contents list ( and then selecting the district(s) you're interested in (Figure A). As with the other selection criteria, you can select your district(s) by searching for them by name, manually selecting them from the list, or using one of the other selection techniques.
• Search Bar. Type in the whole or partial name of a customs district and press the or hit Enter. The page should then reload and show the districts that match your search. Check the box next to your desired customs district. If you wish to return to the expandable tree listing of all the districts, click the to the right of the search bar to "Show All".
• Manual Selection. Click on the empty box in front of the Districts you're interested in.
• Other Selection Options. If you'd like to see information from all individual districts excluding the total for All Districts, click on the in the second column under the heading "Levels". This will select all of the individual districts. If you need all the individual districts plus the total for All Districts, select the under the header "All". As always, clicking will clear all previous selections.
USA Trade Online also allows you to track imports and exports traveling through more than 400 ports in the United States and its territories using the Port Selection screen. In the United States, ports include trade through airports, pipelines, roads, railroads, mail, as well as the more traditional sea-based ports. In the United States, physical ports are grouped into districts based on geography. The name of the district is the name of the primary port in that district. So the district of Baltimore, Maryland includes five ports: the cities of Annapolis, Baltimore, Cambridge, and Crisfield, and the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Figure A: Port Selection Screen with Baltimore, MD District Expanded
Two special ports -- Low-value and Vessels under their own power, such as exported or imported cruise ships -- are also defined for statistical purposes. For exports, there is also a Mail shipments port. While districts can include ports in one or more states, except for the special ports, ports are always state-specific.
Port-level trade includes seven measures:
Unlike non-port data, port-level data is measured in terms of shipping weights (in kilograms), not numbers of items. These shipping weights are only provided for air, vessel, and containerized vessel shipments -- shipping weights are not provided for trade by truck, pipeline, mail, etc. (Air and vessel account for about 60 percent of U.S. exports and 70 percent of U.S. imports.)
Navigating the Port Selections
You can navigate through the Ports by clicking on the in front of a District to expand to view the ports grouped together. You may also select Ports by using the Search box at the top and hitting Enter or pressing the button. Note that the district and its main port have the same name even though they cover differ areas. To help you distinguish them, the district is identified with word "(District)" and the port is identified with the word "(Port)".
Other options include:
The United States actually has more than 400 ports. Major delivery services, such as FedEx and UPS, for example, have their own ports. However, ports are consolidated where necessary to prevent disclosure of possibly business confidential information. This explains why you won't see some ports that you'd expect to see.
Depending on the report type you selected on the Data Source Selection screen, you will see a combination of the available measures, namely value, quantity, and unit price in your report. Importantly, value data are provided at all digit levels, but quantity and price values are only provided at the ten-digit HS level. For port-level data, the measures are Total Value, Vessel Value, Vessel SWT, Air Value, Air SWT, Containerized Vessel Value, and Containerized Vessel SWT. If the default options of the report you selected do not fit your research needs, you can select and/or de-select the default options (more on this below).
Measures for HS district-level data
• Values are expressed in single U.S. dollars ($US).
• Quantities are expressed in single units at the ten-digit level only. At the ten-digit level, the actual unit being displayed is shown in parenthesis following the commodity description. Most weights and volumes are expressed in metric terms. Click here for a list of quantity abbreviations used in this product.
• Unit Prices are also available only at the ten-digit level. Note: This figure is calculated by dividing value by quantity.
Measures for port-level and state data
• Total Value ($US) is the value of trade from all shipping methods.
• Vessel Value ($US) is the value of trade through vessel ports (seaborne trade).
• Vessel SWT (kg) is the shipping weight of trade going through vessel ports (seaborne trade) expressed in kilograms. (The port and state level data won't tell you the individual number of items shipped.)
• Air Value ($US) is the value of trade through airborne carriers.
• Air SWT (kg) is the shipping weight of trade carried by airborne carriers expressed in kilograms. (The port and state level data won't tell you the individual number of items shipped.)
• Containerized Vessel Value ($US) is the value of shipments transported in any van-type container. (Note that containerized vessel trade is already included in vessel trade above.)
• Containerized Vessel SWT (kg) is the shipping weight of trade transported in any van-type container expressed in kilograms. (Note that containerized vessel trade is already included in vessel trade above.)
Measures for NACIS district-level data
• Total Export Value is the domestic export value added to foreign export value
• Domestic Export Value is the value of domestic (grown, manufactured, enhanced, etc.) merchandise exported
• Foreign Export Value is the export value of foreign merchandise (re-exports)
• General Imports, Customs Value is the value of physical arrivals of merchandise from foreign countries (including goods going into bonded warehouses etc.)
• General Imports, C.I.F. Value is the landed value of merchandise at the first port of arrival in the U.S. (excludes U.S. import duties)
• Imports for Consumption Customs Value is the value of imports cleared through Customs (including goods from bonded warehouses etc.)
• Imports for Consumption, C.I.F. Value is the value of imports cleared through Customs based on the actual price including freight, insurance, and other charges incurred in bringing the merchandise to the United States
• Balance is the total export value minus general imports customs value
Navigating the Measures Selections
From the Measures Selection screen, select the measure(s) you want to include in your report by clicking the empty box in front of the one(s) you're interested in. To select all of the measures, click each empty box individually, or click the to select them all. You may clear all selections by clicking on the red icon.
Figure A: State Export Data - Measures Selection Screen
Helpful Hints and Related Information
• Value is the default member if nothing is selected in the Measures Selection screen. Your report page will load without a "Measures" header, but all the data listed will be represented in $US (i.e. value).
• While you can choose which units of measure to use in your report, it is important to remember that quantity and unit price data are only available at the ten-digit HS commodity detail level.
Although the default time settings vary from one report type to another, the Time Selection screen allows you to tailor this dimension to meet your research objectives. Through the Time Selection screen you can choose to include monthly data since 2002 and/or annual data since 1992 (where available), as well as add year-to-date (YTD) aggregations and growth rates to your report.
Note: The amount of historical data available varies per report option chosen from the Data Source Selection screen.
Figure A: Time Selection Screen
Navigating the Time Selections
By default, each report option gives you the current year-to-date statistics, as well as those of the four preceding years. To modify or remove the default, you will need to first click on the "Time Series" tab highlighted in Figure A. On this tab, you may remove or edit an existing time selection and create a new time series set.
Figure B: Time Series Set Tab
There are a few icons to help you manage your time series sets:
• deletes a time series set
• moves a time series set up the list
• moves a time series set down the list
• under the "All" heading will select all of the existing time series sets
• under the "All" heading will de-select all of the existing time series sets
You may also select a range of time series sets.
To remove the default time selection, click the under the "All" heading. This will de-select all time selections. You may then create a new time series set or click on the "Members" tab and select individual years and months from the available list.
Editing an Existing Time Selection
To edit a time selection, click on the name of the option you'd want to modify. In Figure B, you see the default selections are Annual, Monthly and Cumulative YTD.
Figure C: Edit Time Series Selection Options
In Figure C above, the Annual time series set has been selected for editing. The options for editing a time series are as follows:
• Name. This is where the name of whatever set you are using will appear (in this example, Annual).
• Periodicity. Here you choose either annual or monthly data. You cannot have both in the same time set. If you wish to have both annual and monthly data in your report, you must create two separate time sets. Even with an Annual title, you may still select monthly data for your periodicity.
• Show in reverse order. Here you can choose to show your data in reverse chronological order. The default is for the most recent periods show up first and the oldest last (2011, 2010, 2009, etc...)
• Year-to-date Aggregations. This option is only active if you've chosen monthly in Periodicity. Select this option if you want to include a YTD sum.
• Base Period. This is the most recent year or month (again depending on what you selected for periodicity) that you wish to have in your report. In order for Saved Reports to update automatically with each release, this should remain at "Most Recent".
• Number of Periods in Series. This is the number of time periods to be included in this report. The default is 5 (current period plus four previous periods). To produce a report, the value must be at least 1.
• Step Value. This represents the spacing between periods. If the step value is 1, then the periods are consecutive. If step value is 2, then it goes over every other period.
• Exclude Ending Period. Check this box if you wish to remove the Base Period (the current month or year) from the report.
Display has several different options available.
• Values - only the unit(s) of measure that you selected on the Measures Selection screen will be included.
• Growth Rates - option calculates the rate of growth by dividing the change in value by the original value. Again, growth rates will be calculated and displayed for the units of measure that you selected on your Measures Selection screen. If you have growth rates selected in the Display field, you will be able to use this field to choose exactly which type of growth rate for a set of time you want to calculate.
I. Growth Type.
A. Standard: Growth rate between values specified is calculated.
B. Average Annual: This is the same as the Standard growth type except adjustments are made for monthly growth rates. If Average Annual is selected, the monthly growth rate is divided by the number of days in that particular month and then multiplied by 365. This selection will only affect monthly growth rates. It will not affect annual or YTD growth rates.
II. Between. This field will select which values the report will use to calculate the growth rates.
A. All Periods: Growth rates are calculated from values for each time period and the time period following it. Rates are only calculated for time periods included in the report. (If you're showing 2002, 2003, and 2004 in your report, doing an "All Periods" growth rate shows two percentage changes -- one between 2002 and 2003, and then between 2003 and 2004.)
B. First and Last Period: Growth rates are calculated from values for the first time period and the last time period included in the report.
• Values and Growth Rate - allows you to include both options in your report.
• Level Changes - The absolute change in value (or quantity, if shown) between two periods of time.
• Values and Level Changes -Allows you to include both options in your report.
• Indices -Allows you to specify a base period to be used for indexing the remaining data in your series.
• Values and Indices - Allows you include both options in your report.
• OK. Hit this button to save your changes.
Click the "Show report" link to view your report.
Create a New Time Series Set
To create a new time series set, click the button. This will open the Create Time Series Set option (see Figure D).
Figure D: Create New Time Series Set
The options are identical to the edit time series options show in Figure C. There are slight changes in the following categories:
• Name: The system provides a name ("Time Series set 1"), but you may choose to create a unique name for each new set.
• Number of Periods in Series: This default is now 1, which is only for the current period (annual, month, or YTD).
• Create Time Series: This replaces "Ok" to save your new changes.
Your new time series will now appear in your list of available time selection sets for this report.
• The current month is the default time period if the existing ones are cleared and nothing else is selected. The report page will load without a time header, but all the data listed will be for the current month of imports or exports depending on the type of report you chose in the Data Source Selection screen.
USA Trade Online allows you to track export and import data from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by country of destination and method of transportation. State trade statistics are available using either the standard 2-, 4- and 6-digit HS commodity classification codes or 3- and 4-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) based codes.
Figure A: State Export Selection Option
State Export and Import data are not available together.
State Exports are Origin of Movement, which is the state where the goods begin its journey to the port of export. State Imports are State of Destination, meaning the state where the goods will end their trade journey.
State Export data is available on an annual and monthly basis from 2003 - present.
State Import data is available on an annual and monthly basis from 2008 - present.
State level trade data includes seven measures:
• Total Value ($US) is the value of trade from all shipping methods. This is the default measure, when none is selected.
• Vessel Value ($US) is the value of trade through vessel ports (seaborne trade).
• Vessel SWT (kg) is the shipping weight of trade going through vessel ports (seaborne trade) expressed in kilograms. (The state-level data won't tell you the individual number of items shipped.)
• Air Value ($US) is the value of trade through airborne carriers.
• Air SWT (kg) is the shipping weight of trade carried by airborne carriers expressed in kilograms. (The state-level data won't tell you the individual number of items shipped.)
• Containerized Vessel Value ($US) is the value of shipments transported in any van-type container. (Note that containerized vessel trade is already included in vessel trade above.)
• Containerized Vessel SWT (kg) is the shipping weight of trade transported in any van-type container expressed in kilograms. (Note that containerized vessel trade is already included in vessel trade above.)
Navigating the State Selection Screen
There are several ways to select your state(s):
• Search Bar. Type in the name of the state and press the icon button. The page should then reload and show the state that matches your search. Check the box next to your desired state.
• Manual Selection. Click the empty box next to each state that you're interested in.
• Level Selection: Under the "Levels:" title, you will see multiple and options. These allow you to select or de-select all items at a given level. If you hover your mouse over each, a pop-up box will tell you what clicking on them will select or de-select. Also, a grayed area will show up in the listing below which indicates what's effected. So if you want to select all individual states, you can click the check box under the second column and they'll be selected.
• All Selection: To select or de-select everything in the State dimension, click either the or under the "All:" title.
General
In the same way Report Contents enable you to tailor the type of information you want, USA Trade Online's Report Features help you organize, manipulate, and format how your report displays. Once you’ve selected your report type and data dimensions, you can use the following Report Features to manipulate and better organize your data.
For example:
• You can manipulate your data dimensions by using rearrange report or by dragging and dropping them in different row and column locations.
• Any column in a report can be sorted by clicking on one of the small arrows at the top of the column.
• Rank ordering takes sorting one step further by inserting a column with an actual rank (1, 2, 3, etc) into your report in ascending or descending order.
• Imagine you are trying to find the top ten trading partners of the United States. Instead of going back to your country dimension and manually de-selecting the countries coming in at 11 or above, you can use your top/bottom reduction option to restrict the table to just the top ten countries. Likewise you can choose to look at upper- and lower-tier values by percent and sum.
• In-report links to get at greater detail.
Using In-Report Links
You can use click on in-report links to drill down to greater detail in your report. For example, by clicking on HS 09 "Coffee, Tea, Mate & Spices" in Figure B, you can tell the system to regenerate the report at the next level of detail. As we see in Figure D this opens up HS 09 to the four-digit detail level.
Figure B: Using In-Report Links
Figure C: In-Report Links used to Expand Commodity Classification Detail
The Drag and Drop feature allows you to change how your report is displayed by moving the dimensions to different rows and columns. To access this feature, locate the graphic to the left of the dimension title (see Figure A). You can manipulate your report by dragging and dropping the different dimensions.
Figure A: Drag & Droppable Report Selection Options
To move a header to a different location, left-click the graphic next to the header you want to move and drag it over the header that you want to switch places with, before finally releasing. The header being “replaced” turns yellow indicating you can release your mouse and successfully complete the process. As we see above, the Time and Measures dimensions switch from Figure B to Figure C.
Figure B: Click on the "Commodity" dimension and drag it over the "Measures" dimension
Figure C: Release the "Commodity" heading to successfully move the dimension
The gray section above your report for is the "Other" header. The Other section determines how many individual tables you'll see in your results. If you're used to spreadsheets, think of "Other" as determining how many sheets you get within a given spreadsheet. You'll end up with a separate table for each combination of items that appear in your results. In Figure D below, Country is in the "Other" dimension. You can page through the different Countries you've selected by clicking the , or click on the down arrow to view a drop-down menu of all the countries available to view . Your report will change with each country, to display the data for that specific country.
Ranking
Rank ordering takes sorting one step further by inserting a column with an actual rank (1, 2, 3, etc) into your table.. This option only appears when there is only one dimension header making up the reports’ rows.
Rank Ordering in USA Trade Online
<p>In Figure A, you will notice the circled rank ordering icon . Clicking this icon will activate the rank ordering feature and create a new rank order column, with the highest value ranked number "1" (see Figure B).
Helpful Hints and Related Information
• The use of the Suppression option will remove the ability to do rank order.
• USA Trade Online has multiple features for organizing, manipulating, and formatting your report, including dragging and dropping, sorting, top/bottom reduction, and more!
Rearrange Report allows you to change how your report is displayed by moving the dimensions to different rows and columns. To access this feature, click on "Rearrange Report" from the report options tool bar (see Figure A) .
Figure A: Report Options Tool Bar with Rearrange Report Highlighted
Using the Rearrange Report options, you can easily move dimensions from Rows to Columns to Other for a better report display.
Figure B: Rearrange Report Options
There are three areas in which you can position the dimensions of your report.
• Rows. Dimensions are displayed in the rows of your report. Multiple dimensions in the rows will be stacked on the left side of your report.
• Columns. Dimensions are displayed in the columns from left to right in your report.
• Other. Dimensions in this option display across the top of your report(see Figures C and D)
The various icons move dimensions from one area to another and determine their sequence within an area:
• Use the left and right arrow buttons to move a single dimension between the Rows, Columns, and Title dimension areas.
• Use the double arrow buttons to move all the dimensions out of a dimension area at once.
• Use the "move to top," "move up," "move down," and "move to bottom" arrow buttons to nest dimensions in the desired order.
The gray section above your report for is the "Other" header. The Other section determines how many individual tables you'll see in your results. If you're used to spreadsheets, think of "Other" as determining how many sheets you get within a given spreadsheet. You'll end up with a separate table for each combination of items that appear in your results. In Figure D below, Country is in the "Title" dimension. You can page through the different Countries you've selected by clicking the buttons, or click on the down arrow to view a drop-down menu of all the countries available to view . Your report will change with each country, to display the data for that specific country.
Figure C: Placing a Dimension in "Other"
Figure D: The Country Dimension in "Other"
Another way to edit your report display is to use the Drag and Drop feature.
Helpful Hints and Related Information
• When moving dimensions, keep a watch out for nested rows. These are cases when two dimensions are used in the row section. Depending how they are arranged, nested rows can cause problems with the sorting and rank ordering features.
• In general, if there is only one item in a dimension (for example, if Measures just has Value selected), moving that dimension into the "Other" area will make the table cleaner.
USA Trade Online has multiple features for organizing, manipulating, and formatting your report, including sorting, rank ordering, top/bottom reduction, and more!
Top/Bottom Reduction allows you to quickly tailor the content of your report to include only the top or bottom values by count, percent, or sum. This feature is especially useful for examining market share. Click the top/bottom reduction icon to bring up your reduction options (see Figure A).
Figure A: Report Features - Top/Bottom Reduction Selected
The Top/Bottom Reduction options menu will appear above your report (Figure B). Use Selection Type to select if you want the Top or Bottom of the Value Type (Count, Percent, or Sum).
Figure B: Top/Bottom Reduction Options
In the Value section, enter in the numeric value to be displayed. The system includes only non-zero values, therefore, you don't need to worry that reducing your chart to the bottom 20 values will bring up countries where no trade activity has been recorded. Click the empty box next to Show Total of Others to create a line in your report that has summed up the total of all of the now hidden rows of data.
Figure C: Annual U.S. Exports with Top 10 Reduction Applied
In Figure C, the report is displaying only the top 10 Countries by dollar value along with the sum of all other countries highlighted in the Others row. This report has also been sorted.
Helpful Hints and Related Information
• The use of the Suppression option will remove the ability to do top/bottom reduction.
• As is the case with rank ordering, the top/bottom reduction icon will only appear when there is one dimension header making up the report’s rows.
• USA Trade Online has multiple features for organizing, manipulating, and formatting your report, including dragging and dropping rank ordering, and more!
Sort Values allows you to organize your report data in ascending (from lowest to highest) or descending (from highest to lowest) order. Any column in a report can be sorted by clicking on one of the small arrows at the top of the column. The down arrow will sort your data in descending order while the up arrow will do the opposite. After clicking on the desired arrow, it will turn red as shown above in Figure A.
General
Once you've gone through the process of selecting your report type, detailing the report contents, and organizing your data, you are finally ready to use your Report Options Tool bar (circled in red) to prepare your final report and make it more visually appealing:
Figure A: Report Options Tool bar
Calculate
Calculate Values allows you to do further analysis with the available data. To access the calculation options, select the Calculate Values option from the icon tool bar (see Figure A) your report (see Figure B for a list of the options that will appear). Next, you must choose from the different dimensions offered. The only dimension you can't select is Measures since it is the basis for the values in the chart. Calculate may also be disabled for dimensions that include groupings.
Figure A: Selecting "Calculate" from the Toolbar
Next, you must choose from the different dimensions offered. The only dimension you can't select is Measures since it is the basis for the values in the report. Calculate may also be disabled for dimensions that have groups (such as country, port, state) and the time dimension. Those dimensions will still appear in the "Hierarchy" drop down, as there are still functions beyond the standard eight available.
Figure B: USA Trade Online's Calculation Options
The standard eight calculate functions available are:
• Totals. Calculates the total of the selected column or row.
• Percentages. Calculates the percent share that each data cell contributes to the selected row/column’s total.
• Average. Calculates the average numerical value of the selected column/row. The average, also known as the mean, is the value obtained by dividing the sum of a set of quantities by the number of quantities in the set.
• Median. Calculates the median numerical value of the selected column/row. The median is the value below which 50% of the values fall.
• Minimum. Displays the minimum value for the selected column/row.
• Maximum. Displays the maximum value for the selected column/row.
• Variance. Calculates the variance of the selected column/row. The variance is a statistical measure of the variability of measured datum from the average value of the set of data. The higher the variance, the more the individual data values deviate from the average value. For example, the data set {5, 5, 5} will have a sample variance of 0 whereas the data set {10, 5, 0} will have a sample variance of 25.
• Standard Deviation. Calculates the standard deviation of the selected column/row. The standard deviation is another measure of variability and is equal to the square root of the variance.
Finally, you have the option of displaying "Values and Percentages" together. This option is only available if you've enabled "Percentages" in the Calculations box. Figure C shows the percentage distribution of Tea imports by country for 2011 and 2010. It is important to note that while "Total" equates to "World Total" conceptually when all countries are selected, the actual World Total country dimension has been de-selected to avoid double-counting.
Figure B: USA Trade Online's Calculation Options
Helpful Hints and Related Information
The "View Chart" option provides a visual representation of the data, making it easier for you and other end-users to recognize trade trends and market share. Data can be represented in 15 different types of charts, including pie charts and line graphs, among others. The trick to mastering this feature is to familiarize yourself with the organization of the tables. A good rule of thumb is to remember that the categories directly adjacent to the data cells will be illustrated in your chart. For example, if the time dimension goes along the top of the report and the countries dimension falls along the side of the report, then the graph will place countries on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. You can use this feature to create column charts like this:
Figure A: Top 10 U.S. Trading Partners (Exports) for 2013
 for 2011.jpg)
To transform your standard report table into a chart, click the word Chart from the icon tool bar. By default, the system will regenerate your table into a column chart and add a Chart Display Settings 
item in the icon toolbar. Now you can use the Rearrange report feature to move the column headers. You can use the Chart display settings feature (see Figure B) to change the default column chart to any of the following fifteen chart options:
Figure B: Chart Options in USA Trade Online
The basic pie chart. The row dimension (i.e. a dimension that helps to make up a report’s rows) that is directly adjacent to the data cells is graphically represented in the chart. Each section of the pie is color coded and listed in the legend at the bottom of the chart. 
Same as the pie chart except there is blank hole in the middle.
Same as the pie chart except now the chart is 3D.
Same as the doughnut chart except now the chart is 3D.
The basic bar chart. Bars are represented horizontally. Each of the row dimension members that are directly adjacent to the data cells makes up one bar in the chart. These are color coded and they are listed in the legend at the bottom of the bar chart. The row dimension that is next to the row dimension directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s x-axis. The column dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s y-axis.
Same as the bar chart except now the chart is 3D.
Same as the column chart except now the chart is 3D.
This is a modified bar chart. The column dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s y-axis. The row dimension members that are directly adjacent to the data cells are the component members of each bar. These bars are color coded and listed in the legend. The row dimension that is next to the row dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s x-axis.
This is just like the stacked bar chart except now the bars are represented vertically. The column dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s x-axis. The row dimension members that are directly adjacent to the data cells are the component members of each bar. These bars are color coded and listed in the legend. The row dimension that is next to the row dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s y-axis.
This is the default chart. This is just like the bar chart except the bars are represented vertically. Each of the row dimension members that are directly adjacent to the data cells makes up one bar in the chart. These are color coded and they are listed in the legend at the bottom of the bar chart. The row dimension that is next to the row dimension directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s y-axis. The column dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s x-axis.
Basic line chart. The row dimension members that are directly adjacent to the data cells makes up each line in the chart. These are color coded and they are listed in the legend at the bottom of the bar chart. The row dimension that is next to the row dimension directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s y-axis. The column dimension that is directly adjacent to the data cells makes up the chart’s x-axis. The basic line chart has both points and lines.
This is just like the line chart except now the lines are rounded.
This is a line chart, without the specific plotted points.
Point charts are essentially line charts without the lines. Note: The number of items on the y-axis and x-axis is limited. This number varies although it is usually around 25 for the y-axis and 50 for the x-axis. The chart is split into many charts if these numbers are exceeded.
Useful Chart Tips
There is no one good way to make a chart. What looks good is a matter of preference. That said, there are a couple of “rules of thumb” that can guide you along the way:
Download
USA Trade Online reports can also be downloaded to your hard drive in a variety of formats -- including Microsoft Excel (.xls) and ASCII Delimited (.csv). This allows for further data manipulation which may not be possible using the Beyond 20/20 software that powers USA Trade Online.
The actual process of downloading your report is very straightforward: Simply click on the 
icon from the tool bar (see Figure A), choose your desired file format (see Figure B), and click the "OK" button.
Figure A: Selecting "Download" from your Options list
Figure B: Selecting your File Format
Downloading using either Comma-delimited ASCII format or Semicolon-delimited ASCII format will allow you to save a file on your hard drive with one line (record) per line in your report. You can then import the .csv file into a spreadsheet program or use it with several other packages.
If you select to download using the XML Spreadsheet for Excel, you'll see several Data Format options as shown in Figure C. You will need at least Microsoft Excel 2003 in order to use this option. Additionally, there is a cell download limit of 100,000.
Figure C: XML Spreadsheet for Excel 2003 (*.xml)
Download Format Options
.jpg)
Figure D: Sample Data Table
For this example, this is how the four Data Format options effect the output file:
Figure E.1: Example of One Worksheet per Report
Figure E.2: Bottom of the One Worksheet per Report
Figure E.3: Example of One Worksheet per 2-dimensional Data Slice
Figure E.4: Bottom of the One Worksheet per 2- dimensional Data Slice
Help! I don't know what all these worksheets are!
All Excel files have at least three worksheets. These vary depending on what options you've picked but they are called:
Additional Notes and Troubleshooting:
Sometimes you need to quickly and easily pick a certain range of values in a sea of numbers. The Highlight Values option allows you to do just that. To access this feature, select Highlight Values from the tool bar.
Figure A: Selecting "Highlight Values" from the Tool bar
Figure B: Highlight Values Options in USA Trade Online
Figure C: Highlight Values for Unit Price
Figure D: U.S. Golf Clubs (Complete) Exports Valued Between $110 and $150/each
 Exports Valued Between $110 and $150each.jpg)
Helpful Hints and Related Information
• Do not put commas in your number. If you want to enter one thousand, enter it as "1000" instead of "1,000".
Printing
To obtain a printable version of your report or chart, simply click on the 
icon on the tool bar. As you can see in Figure A below, the printable version removes all icons and text from the screen, leaving only your selected report. Since this also removes all navigation tools, remember to use the Back function of your browser to get out of this window.
Figure A: Selecting "Printable Version" from the Tool bar
Figure B: Printable Version of Total Monthly Exports of All Commodities
Figure C: Print Setup
Please note that you must also change your browser print settings in order for the parameters you selected using the print options dialogue box to take effect.
Note: If you use your browser's Print function without first selecting the printable version, only the portion of the table visible on your physical screen will be printed.
Saving
USA Trade Online allows you to save both the data tables that result from a request as well as the "report" that actually generated these tables.
By using "My Reports", you are saving your information on our server, not on your personal hard drive. This saves you space and allows you to access your USA Trade Online tables and charts from anywhere you can use the site. Another benefit of the "My Reports" feature is that saved reports and charts are updated when new data are released each month, provided your time settings are "Current period". This will generate the same report as the initial one (prior to saving), but with the new data.
In order to save these reports, you need to click the 
icon in your report options tool bar, as shown in Figure A. In order to successfully save your work, you must add a title. One will automatically be provided for you based on your original data selection, however we recommend you add the customize your own (see the example below). While it is not required to add notes, it is a great way to add additional information regarding your report that is too long or detailed for the title.
Figure A: Saving Your USA Trade Online Reports and Charts
After clicking OK, your report will display the new title you created for it and an 
if you added notes. To locate where this saved report (and others) are housed, simply click the "Return to Data Source Selection" link in the upper right corner.
Note: If you are accessing USA Trade Online through a multi-user shared access account, your reports are saved alongside the saved reports from any other individuals using this account. In order to distinguish your reports from other user's, you may choose to use a unique naming convention. For example, John Smith may save his reports as Exports_JS.
Figure B: Return to Data Source Selection to locate Saved reports
Once on the Data Source Selection Screen, locate and click on the "My Reports" tab in upper left corner (shown below in Figure C).
Figure C: Access Saved Reports via "My Reports"
Managing Your Saved Reports
Use the following icons on the tool bar (see Figure C below)) to manage and organize your saved reports.
Figure D: Managing Saved Reports
• To open a saved report, hover your mouse over the report or chart title and click. Or, simply click the
or 
to the left of the title.
• 
To expand all of your report folders.
• 
To collapse all of your report folders.
• 
To sort all or a subset of your report folders.
• 
To add or move a report to an existing report folder. Check the empty box in front of the selected report to activate this icon. Once active, click this icon to add or move your report to an existing report folder.
• 
To create a new report. More details on this below.
• 
To create a new folder. This option allows you to organize your reports into different subject areas. If you are using a shared access account, this option is ideal as you can create a personalized folder (example: "Jim's Reports") where you can save your items.
• 
To delete a report/chart. Check the box to the left of the or icon, before finally clicking the icon above your "My Reports" box.
• To obtain report definitions.
•
To search saved reports.
• 
To change a report title and/or notes. Select the report you'd like to modify by checking the empty box in front of the report.
• To return to the Data Source Selection Screen, click the "Public Reports" tab in the upper left corner.
Creating a new Report
To create a new report from within "My Reports", you can go to File-> Create a New Report or click on the figure from the tool bar. Using this option will allow you to bypass returning to the Data Source Selection Screen. Create a title for your new report and then use the drop down menus show in Figure E to specify which folder you'd like to save this report to and your data source (Imports by District HS, State Exports by NAICS, Port Imports by HS, etc...).
Figure E: Creating a New Report
Once you click "Continue", you will be returned to the Report Contents screens you've used before to customize your report. There are no defaults when creating a report from "My Reports", so you must choose a commodity, country, time period, etc in order to build your report.
NOTE: Your report changes will not be saved until you click the icon. Should you attempt to return to the Data Source Selection Screen without saving, you will be given a warning (see Figure E).
Figure F. Save Warning
Scaling
Scaling allows to you to express measures in singles, thousands, millions and billions. For example, thousands of barrels (BBL) or millions of dollars. To access this feature, select Scale Values from the tool bar.
Figure A: Selecting "Scale Values" on the Tool bar
To edit the Scale Value options, double click the cell or press F2.
Figure B: Scale Values Options
Click Show Report to view your scaled values displayed in your report.
Figure C: Scaling Identified for Value
Note: The ability to Highlight Values is based on the original cell values before scaling is applied. Therefore cell colors will not change if different scaling factors are applied. Charts and downloaded report measures will also be scaled.
Back to top
Suppress
USA Trade Online's Suppress Values feature helps you better organize your data so you can get to the information you need. This handy tool allows you to remove empty columns and rows, making your reports easier to read and manipulate. To access this feature, select Suppress Values from the tool bar (see Figure A). This will open the Suppression Options commands (see Figure B) for a list of the options that will appear.
Figure A: Selecting "Suppress" on the Tool bar
Figure B: USA Trade Online's Suppression Option
Select to suppress either the rows, columns or both to remove values.
• Empty - Values that are between zero and 1.
• Empty or Zero - Values that are either zero or between zero and 1
• Empty or in the specific range - Values that are between zero and 1 and a range determined by the user (example: 400000 to 450000).
Figure C: Annual Tea Imports Before Suppression of Empty Values
Figure D: Annual Tea Imports After Suppression of Empty Values
Notice how much cleaner the report is in Figure D, after suppressing the empty rows and columns. This is an invaluable tool when sorting and downloading data into other programs.
NOTE: The use of suppression removes the option for rank order and top/bottom reduction.
Table Display Opts
The Table Display Settings option, which is visible when a table is showing (Chart Display Settings shows up when a chart is shown), allows you to determine how many rows and columns you want displayed in your table. See Figure A below.
Figure A: Table Options Dialogue Box
• Rows/Colums per page - Your selection here determines how the report is shown on your screen. The more rows and columns that are displayed, the more scrolling you will have to do but the fewer times you'll have to do the next-screen options: . The maximum number of rows displayed is 200 and the maximum number of columns displayed is 50.
• Include current date and time - Adds the date and time of creation to your report.
• Fixed headers on scrolling - For longer descriptions, creates a second row inside the cell.
• Maximum length of labels - Sets the limit for how many characters wihin a cell before the description becomes truncated.
• Label wrapping - Removes the set length of labels and shows the full label description.