The Impact of the Falling Yen on U.S. Import Prices

[Excerpt] In the fall of 2012, Japan set forth economic policies aimed at turning around the country’s historic deflationary slide that began in the 1990s. These policies led the Japanese yen to fall dramatically in value relative to the U.S. dollar, reversing what was a long upward trend of strength against the dollar. From September 2012 to May 2013, the yen–dollar exchange rate plummeted 22.5 percent. Although the rate of decline decelerated considerably over the remainder of the year, the yen fell an additional 2.4 percent against the U.S. dollar between May and December. A falling yen means the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar increases for goods imported from Japan. Parallel to the drop in the value of the yen, import prices of Japanese goods fell 3.5 percent from September 2012 to December 2013. The drop in the value of the yen particularly influenced prices in major product areas such as nonelectrical machinery, computers and electronic products, and chemicals, which combined make up nearly 40 percent of U.S. imports from Japan. The industry that is most affected by Japanese import prices is the transportation vehicles industry, which alone represents 42 percent of U.S. imports from Japan

Shrimp Disease in Asia Resulting in High U.S. Import Prices

[Excerpt] Shrimp has become a popular purchase for American consumers, with U.S. consumption of shrimp reaching 3.8 pounds per person in 2012. Demand for shrimp has increased over the years, and shrimp is currently the largest imported seafood species, accounting for 29 percent of seafood imports by dollar value. In 2013, consumers and businesses found themselves paying higher prices with less product available in supermarkets and restaurants. For example, the popular restaurant chain Red Lobster recently saw a 35-percent increase in the price the company paid for shrimp. The price hike contributed to a 3.1-percent increase in the company’s overall food costs and, more recently, an 18-percent decrease in earnings during the quarter that ended in February 2014. Similarly, Noodles & Company noted that the cost of shrimp in its pasta dishes would rise 29 percent this year

Impact of the Drought on Corn Exports: Paying the Price

In the summer of 2012, weather conditions caused the most severe drought the United States has seen since the 1950s. This drought affected agricultural crops across the nation. As a result of drought-related crop damage, U.S. export prices for corn soared nearly 128 percent above the 20-year historical average, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly export price index. Export prices also hit the highest level since the import and export price index series began in December 1984. Although weather conditions often wreak havoc on corn and secondary product price levels, this drought not only caused a spike in export corn prices, but has begun to influence U.S. trade for corn-derived products such as ethanol as well

Forty Years of the BLS Export and Import Price Indexes: Trends and Competition

[Excerpt] U.S. competitiveness is measured in many different ways. However, two sets of measures that historically have been of interest in helping to assess the strength of the economy are the price trends of U.S. exports and of U.S. imports. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau) first began publication of a limited set of export price indexes in 1971, followed 2 years later by a set of import price indexes. The Bureau developed these series in response to two key concerns, one statistical and the other economic. The statistical issue was over the validity of the import and export unit value indexes published by the Census Bureau. The economic question had to do with the nation’s ability to compete in the increasingly global economy. The publication of detailed export and import price indexes helped address these concerns because those indexes were true price indexes and because they provided a greater level of detail than the analogous indexes previously published by the Census Bureau. The number of published series increased until the Bureau was able to publish the first all-import price index in 1983, followed a year later by the first all-export price index. Although the publication of these series alleviated the need to rely upon the unit value data—indeed, the Census Bureau discontinued publication of its unit value indexes in 1989—concerns over U.S. competitiveness have only grown over time

Coal: A Key Player in Expanded U.S. Energy Exports

In a November 2012 report that received significant attention in the media, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that the United States will be nearly energy self-sufficient by the year 2035. Justifications for this claim include reports of declining oil consumption, the unlocking of natural gas resources through new technologies, and overall increases in U.S. energy production. As natural gas becomes more inexpensive and renewable energy sources continue to increase in usage, the energy mix in the United States (and other countries) is expected to change. The IEA estimates that 40 percent of world electricity generation was fueled by coal in 2011. Coal is the only major energy source for which the United States demonstrates a trade surplus. In 2011, the last calendar year for which data are available, the United States exported more than $16 billion worth of coal, while importing only slightly less than$3 billion in coal. Furthermore, coal is expected to remain one of the largest fuel sources in worldwide energy consumption for at least the next two decades. Second only to oil in meeting the energy needs of the world, coal generates more electricity for the United States and the world than any other single fuel. With the key role that coal currently plays in the U.S. trade balance, and is expected to play in the future, it is interesting to look at recent volatile export price movements of this important U.S. resource.BLS_BTN_Coal_a_key_player.pdf: 100 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020