International Data

Survey of Current Business, Sept, 1999

(r) Revised.

(p) Preliminary.

(1.) Credits, : Exports of goods and services and income receipts; unilateral current transfers to the United States; capital account transactions receipts; financial inflows--increase in foreign-owned assets (U.S. liabilities) or decrease in U.S.-owned assets (U.S. claims).

Debits, -: Imports of goods and services and income payments; unilateral current transfers to foreigners; capital account transactions payments; financial outflows--decrease in foreign-owned assets (U.S. liabilities) or increase in U.S.-owned assets (U.S. liabilities) or increase in U.S.-owned assets (U.S. claims).

(2.) Excludes exports of goods under U.S. military agency sales contracts identified in Census export documents, excludes imports of goods under direct defense expenditures identified in Census import documents, and reflects various other adjustments (for valuation, coverage, and timing) of Census statistics to balance of payments basis; see table 2 in "U.S. International Transactions, First Quarter 1999" in the July 1999 SURVEY.

(3.) Includes some goods: Mainly military equipment in line 5; major equipment, other materials, supplies, and petroleum products purchased abroad by U.S. military agencies in line 22; and fuels purchased by airline and steamship operators in lines 8 and 25.

(4.) Includes transfers of goods and services under U.S. military grant programs.

(5.) Beginning in 1982, these lines are presented on a gross basis. The definition of exports is revised to exclude U.S. parents' payments to foreign affiliates and to include U.S. affiliates' receipts from foreign parents. The definition of imports is revised to include U.S. parents' payments to foreign affiliates and to exclude U.S. affiliates' receipts from foreign parents.

(6.) Beginning in 1982, the "other transfers" component includes taxes paid by U.S. private residents to foreign governments and taxes paid by private nonresidents to the U.S. Government.

(7.) At the present time, all U.S. Treasury-owned gold is held in the United States.

(8.) Includes sales of foreign obligations to foreigners.

(9.) Consists of bills, certificates, marketable bonds and notes, and nonmarketable convertible and nonconvertible bonds and notes.

(10.) Consists of U.S. Treasury and Export-Import Bank obligations, not included elsewhere, and of debt securities of U.S. Government corporations and agencies.

(11.) Includes, primarily, U.S. Government liabilities associated with military agency sales contracts and other transactions arranged with or through foreign official agencies; see table 4 in "U.S. International Transactions, First Quarter 1999" in the July 1999 issue of the SURVEY.

(12.) Consists of investments in U.S. corporate stocks and in debt securities of private corporations and State and local governments.

(13.) Conceptually, line 76 is equal to "net foreign investment" in the national income and product accounts (NIPA's). However, the foreign transactions account in the NIPA's (a) includes adjustments to the international transactions accounts for the treatment of gold, (b) includes adjustments for the different geographical treatment of transactions with US territories and Puerto Rico, and (c) includes services furnished without payment by financial pension plans except life insurance carriers and private noninsured pension plans. A reconciliation of the balance on goods and services from the international accounts and the NIPA net exports appears on page D-74 of this issue. A reconciliation of the other foreign transactions in the two sets of accounts appears in table 4.5 of the full set of NIPA tables.