This week, the American Journal of Transportation reported that economists at California State University, Long Beach released a paper showing that importing creates jobs. They tracked four types of raw materials and semi-finished goods (paper, iron/steel, electronic parts, and organic chemicals) and looked at employment trends.

The researchers reported that manufacturers that imported these products through the Port of Long Beach often completed assembly in the United States and then exported the finished products. They documented nearly a quarter million jobs created and maintained for the industries studied. These are not minimum wage jobs either, ranging from an average salary of $92,000 in the chemical industry to $59,000 for wholesale trade.

It is often argued that the trade deficit, amount of imports to the U.S., and lack of exports are major factors in our current recession. To see how imports' impact on the economy is often discounted, try asking a politician about promoting imports along with exports. Here in Minnesota, our state government has an economic development agency completely dedicated to helping companies export, but rarely mentions or assists with importing.

While imports have gotten a bad reputation, rightly in some industries for outsourcing jobs, many companies would not exist without low price commodities sourced from around the world. Some may turn around and sell imported products directly to consumers, like many retailers, but there are a significant number of importers that take these goods and further refine them into finished products, exporting them at a higher price by adding value. In addition, the transportation sector and other industries are built on international trade, as we now live in a global economy; these sectors employ millions and could not exist on exports alone.

To take a look at the study, click this link.

Zepol supports both import and export trade and we provide the information needed to build companies through intelligent decision making. Our U.S. government trade data shows how trade functions for specific industry sectors and even companies. The companies taking advantage of our trade data tools are the same forward thinking organizations that use both imports and exports to their advantage in order to create jobs, grow shareholder value, and earn profits.

The U.S. Census Bureau released their Merchandise Trade data numbers on August 12th, 2009. The Merchandise Trade deficit increased 22% from May to $40.2 billion in June (click here to see May's U.S. Census data update). This increase brings the deficit to $217 billion for the year. However, the U.S. deficit is still down 45% from the same period in 2008 and while a 22% increase seems like a large spike, $40.2 billion is only 11.6% above the average month for the year; January 2009 topped out at $43.8 billion.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the U.S. Census Merchandise Trade data released last week. This month we have highlighted 5 interesting items that we found while looking at June's data; here are the hightlights:

1. The volume of trade for the top U.S. trading partners is up, but value is down
2. Trade of grain has decreased
3. The price of medication exports is up
   
4. Tobacco product imports are up
5. Imports of cars were only slightly up in June

Click here for Zepol’s U.S. Census Merchandise Trade Data Update for June 2009

Today, we launched our new trade data tool, TradeView will not only expand what companies, consultants, agencies, organizations, and journalists can do with the Merchandise Trade and Port HS6 data sets, but also will save trade data users who are purchasing the source data from the U.S. Census Bureau nearly $14,000.

TradeView is now available for purchase on a subscription-basis for $895 for unlimited annual access. Subscribers have access to import, export, and balance U.S. Census trade data from January 2007 through the present.

With this launch, we have also updated our website to include additional information about TradeView. Please click the links below to learn more about how TradeView changes the trade data landscape:

• View our video demonstrations
• Learn about features and available data fields
• See a U.S. Census trade data sample
• Register for our weekly TradeView webinar
• Subscribe to TradeView

We have used our tool to create many of the trade data updates that we have provided on the Zepol Trade Data Blog over the last several months. TradeView has made it incredibly easy and time effective to do analysis of both import and export trade data because this product is the first trade data tool that allows users to view both directions of trade at the same time.

Click here to view Zepol’s official TradeView Launch press release.

This week, Zepol completed the data for July in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. July's results show that imports are up from June by 6.1%. This continued climb in the amount of shipments entering the United States by vessel is another strong indication that the U.S. trade economy continues to strengthen after a second month of growth over 6%. In addition, container traffic is down only 13.6% compared to July 2008.

Below is a table showing the port regions of the world where shipments originated:
This month's numbers show that the larger U.S. ports are recovering faster than less trafficked ports. The top five ports are off 11.5% from July 2008, while the next five ports are down 19.6%. The overall recovery will touch all ports that can lock in the carriers and consignees during the recession, and it does appear that the top ports are using their resources and market power to position themselves for better times.

Below are the top 10 ports in the United States by shipment count:
Zepol's U.S. Customs trade data is taken from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. The information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.