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I'm reading the U.S. Census Bureau report from October [0] and I can't for the life of me figure out where these numbers are coming from, they seem to be flat o
by mbell 15y ago
I'm reading the U.S. Census Bureau report from October [0] and I can't for the life of me figure out where these numbers are coming from, they seem to be flat out wrong.
Using NAICS product categories the "top 5" through October appear to be:
1) Transportation Equipment - 164.79 billion
2) Chemicals - 156.7 billion
3) Non-Electrical Machinery - 118.4 billion
4) Computers and Electrical Products - 102.4 billion
5) Petroleum and Coal Products - 81.26 billion
Am I reading this report wrong?
[0] http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/ft900.pdf http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_pr...
- nostromo 15y agoThey could both be correct; it depends on how you slice it. For example, the article notes, "Aircraft, motor vehicles, vacuum tubes and telecom equipment were next on the list of top exports." In your list, both aircraft and motor vehicles are are grouped under "transportation equipment," making it a much larger group.
- mbell 15y agoUnderstood, but nothing seems to add up to the given numbers. Nor do the categories used seem to be based on any standard I can find. Its pretty easy to make almost anything you want appear to be the "biggest" if you can arbitrarily manipulate the category system used.
- redthrowaway 15y ago"Computers and electrical products - ~100b" I wonder if they count iPads and iPhones as exports or imports. If exports, that means a massive chunk of America's consumer electronics exports are due solely to apple.