1. Why am I prompted for a username and password?
In order to access the reports associated with your account you need a username and password.
5. Will my personal information (address, email, etc…) be stored?
In subscribing to one or more of our services, you provided personal identifying information. This information is retained in secure storage for internal use in maintaining your account.
6. What are the hours of customer service?
Phone support is available at 1-800-549-0595 option 4 and is available from 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM Eastern Time, Monday - Friday. Offices are closed on federal holidays.
7. How can I change my username and password?
To personalize your username and password, click on the "Account" button on the main page. From there, login using your current username and password. Then click on "Edit Account Info" to change the user name and click on the "Reset Password" link to change your password.
8. I've lost my username and password. How can I retrieve them?
In the login screen, click on the link that says "Forgot Account Information?" and follow instructions to recieve your username and password information by email.
1. How do I get started?
New users can get started easily by using the New User Guide.
2. How do I view a report?
Once you've made all of your selections in the Report Contents, click on the "Show Report" link to view your report. To view a Chart of your report, click on the "Chart" link from the Report Options tool bar.
3. How do I search?
Searching can be done in the Report Contents sections. Locate the search box, enter your search terms and then hit the Enter key or click the Search function Icon to initiate your search.
4. How do I sort my results within a table?
It's as easy as clicking the Sort Descending Sort Ascending arrows at the top of your report's columns. The downward pointing arrow sorts the data in descending order (meaning largest value first) and the upward pointing arrow does the opposite. Previously, the report had to be sorted according to the leftmost column. Now, you can sort in any column! You'll notice the arrow icons turn red Reset sort descending Reset sort ascending to identify the sorted column. Click here to go to the help guide and select "Sort Values" from the table of contents.
5. When I use the calculate percentages command in the Report Options list, the values seem to be half of what they should be. How do I fix this?
If you calculate shares for a particular commodity with all countries as well as World Total selected, each country's share will be half of what it should be, with World Total showing a share of 50 percent. This occurs because the value for World Total by definition is equal to the sum of the values for all countries (we’d be in real trouble if it wasn’t!). To avoid this problem, make sure to deselect World Total when you are calculating your percentage shares (unless of course this action in desired based on your research question or questions). Click here to go to the help guide and select "Calculate Values" from the table of contents.
6. I can't get my charts to look how I want. Please help!
A good rule of thumb to remember when creating charts in USA Trade Online is that the categories adjacent to the data cells will be illustrated in the chart. For example, if the “Time” category goes along the top of the report and the “Country” category goes along the side of the report, then Country will be represented on the y-axis and Time on the x-axis. Another good rule of thumb is to avoid placing a one-variable category adjacent to the data cells. Click here to go to the help guide and select "Chart Display Settings" from the table of contents.
7. When I print my charts as thumbnail images, the legend has no color, but the charts do. How do I fix this problem?
The legend uses background colors when viewing thumbnail charts. By default, most browsers do not print background colors. Printing background colors can be achieved by following these instructions:
(a) For Internet Explorer and Firefox: from the “Print” menu, select “Page Setup”, check “Print Background (colors and images)” box. Please keep in mind that changing the default will print background colors and images on every website you visit, so you will probably want to reset any changes you make back to the default setting.
(b) Another way of fixing this problem would be to print each chart individually by clicking on one chart, select “Printable Version” and then “Print”; do the same for each chart in your data set.
8. What happened to My Reports? How do I save them now?
The "My Reports" feature is still available. To Save a report, click on the Save Icon icon. This will open up the My Reports - Save dialogue box. Follow the brief instructions then hit "OK". To access your saved reports, click on the "Return to Data Source Selection" link above your report. This will take you back to the Data Source Selection Screen where you can access your saved reports by clicking on the "My Reports" tab in the upper left corner. Click here to go to the help guide and select "Save" from the table of contents.
9. How current are the data on USA Trade Online?
The data on USA Trade Online are updated the same day the information are released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Generally, the data are released about 40 days behind the reference month. The schedule of releases is available as a tab on the USA Trade Online home page.
10. What is the difference between C.I.F. and F.A.S. value? Or districts of unleading and districts of exportation?
You can find the answer to these questions and inquiries about other acronyms and terminology used throughout USA Trade Online in the Glossary of Trade Terms.
11. How do I get permission to use or publish these data?
You don't need it. For more information regarding publishing our data, please contact us at 1-800-549-0595, option #4.