CBP Issues FY 2004 Year-End Import Trade Trends Report

CBP has previously stated that this report contains highlights and graphical analysis designed to trace major trade patterns and the impact of major CBP initiatives on the international trade environment.

The following are highlights of CBP's report:

Compliance Measurement (CM) rate for trade laws at an all time high. According to CBP, overall CM rates for trade were previously at an all time high of 93% in FY 2003. However, these rates were surpassed in FY 2004, during which over 60,000 trade compliance exams were conducted and to date, 95% of all entries sampled for trade laws were compliant.

CBP adds that participants in the Container Security Initiative (CSI), Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), and the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) and major importers typically have a higher CM rate for trade than the national average.

C-TPAT/ISA imports account for 37% of entry lines. Imports from C-TPAT participants account for 37% of all entry lines, while imports from participants in both C-TPAT and ISA account for 15% of all entry lines. Therefore, C-TPAT/ISA imports account for 37% of all entry lines.

52% of FY 2004 imports came from top five countries. 52% of all FY 2004 imports came from the top five countries of Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany.

CBP states that the value of imports from China rose 93% in the last five years. Given this rate of growth, China could surpass Canada as the U.S.' top trading partner in under five years.

32 active CSI ports account for 46% of all entry lines. CBP notes that 32 CSI ports were active at the start of FY 2005, which account for 46% of all entry lines for sea container traffic.

Sea vessel is primary method of shipping to U.S. The primary method of shipping to the U.S. is by sea vessel, which accounted for 43% of all imports in FY 2004, followed by air, truck, rail, foreign trade zone (FTZ)/warehouse, and other methods.

Import value projected to grow to new high. Import value was $1.41 trillion at year end FY 2004, and projections for FY 2005 indicate that the value of goods imported into the U.S. could grow by an additional $131 billion to a new high of $1.54 trillion.

Approximately 69% of import value is duty-free. During FY 2004, approximately 69% of all import value was duty free. In addition, 22% of all import value was conditionally free under special trade programs.

Revenue collections. Nearly $26 billion in revenue was collected by the end of FY 2004. According to CBP, the revenue collections fell into three major categories: approximately $21 billion was from duty collections; $2.6 billion was derived from miscellaneous collections, such as various fees and interest payments; and another $2.2 billion was received in taxes.

CBP states that duties as a percentage of value ("overall duty rate") for FY 2004 dropped from 1.6% in FY 2003 to 1.5%. Although duty rates are in decline, CBP states that total collections are projected to reach over $26 billion in FY 2005.

AD/CV duty collections. Antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) deposits totaled $1.8 billion in FY 2004, an increase of 532% since FY 1998. CBP notes that softwood lumber from Canada accounts for 50% of AD duty deposits and 96% of CV duty deposits. In addition, cases against agricultural products from China account for an additional 13% of AD duty deposits.

Entry summary and line volumes. CBP states that it processed over 28 million entry summaries in FY 2004, and notes that summary and line growth average about 8% each FY. In FY 2005, summary and line volume is projected to exceed 30.1 million summaries and 85.1 million lines.

Number of consignees projected to reach record high. Over 754,000 consignees imported in FY 2004, and the total number of consignees is projected to reach a record high of 799,000 by the end of FY 2005.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 08/20/04 news, 04082010, for BP summary of CBP's mid-year FY 2004 Import Trends Report.)

CBP report (published January 2005) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/accomplish/trade_trends_fy04.ctt/trade_trends_fy04.pdf