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U.S. import prices down 3.3 percent, export prices down 4.4 percent, for the year ending July 2020

August 18, 2020

U.S. import prices increased 0.7 percent in July, following a 1.4-percent advance in June and a 0.7-percent rise in May. This 2.8-percent change from April to July marked the largest 3-month advance since May 2011. Prices for U.S. exports advanced 0.8 percent in July. Despite the upturn in recent months, prices for U.S. imports declined 3.3 percent for the year ended in July, while prices for U.S. exports decreased 4.4 percent over the same period.

 1-month change in U.S. import and export price indexes, January 2010 to July 2020
Month Import Export

Jan 2010

1.2% 0.8%

Feb 2010

-0.1 -0.3

Mar 2010

0.4 0.7

Apr 2010

1.1 1.1

May 2010

-0.8 0.5

Jun 2010

-1.2 -0.7

Jul 2010

0.0 -0.2

Aug 2010

0.4 0.8

Sep 2010

0.0 0.6

Oct 2010

1.1 0.8

Nov 2010

1.7 1.5

Dec 2010

1.4 0.7

Jan 2011

1.5 1.3

Feb 2011

1.7 1.3

Mar 2011

3.0 1.5

Apr 2011

2.6 0.8

May 2011

0.1 0.4

Jun 2011

-0.6 0.1

Jul 2011

0.1 -0.4

Aug 2011

-0.4 0.4

Sep 2011

-0.1 0.5

Oct 2011

-0.4 -2.0

Nov 2011

0.7 0.1

Dec 2011

0.0 -0.5

Jan 2012

0.0 0.3

Feb 2012

0.0 0.5

Mar 2012

1.4 0.8

Apr 2012

-0.1 0.4

May 2012

-1.5 -0.5

Jun 2012

-2.3 -1.7

Jul 2012

-0.7 0.4

Aug 2012

1.2 0.9

Sep 2012

1.0 0.8

Oct 2012

0.3 0.1

Nov 2012

-0.7 -0.6

Dec 2012

-0.6 -0.1

Jan 2013

0.5 0.4

Feb 2013

0.9 0.7

Mar 2013

-0.1 -0.5

Apr 2013

-0.7 -0.6

May 2013

-0.6 -0.5

Jun 2013

-0.4 -0.1

Jul 2013

0.1 -0.2

Aug 2013

0.4 -0.5

Sep 2013

0.3 0.4

Oct 2013

-0.6 -0.6

Nov 2013

-0.9 0.2

Dec 2013

0.1 0.4

Jan 2014

0.4 0.3

Feb 2014

1.1 0.8

Mar 2014

0.5 0.9

Apr 2014

-0.6 -1.0

May 2014

0.3 0.1

Jun 2014

0.3 -0.5

Jul 2014

-0.3 0.1

Aug 2014

-0.8 -0.5

Sep 2014

-0.8 -0.4

Oct 2014

-1.4 -0.9

Nov 2014

-1.8 -0.9

Dec 2014

-2.5 -0.9

Jan 2015

-3.2 -1.7

Feb 2015

-0.4 -0.2

Mar 2015

-0.2 0.0

Apr 2015

-0.2 -0.6

May 2015

1.1 0.5

Jun 2015

0.1 -0.3

Jul 2015

-0.9 -0.4

Aug 2015

-1.8 -1.4

Sep 2015

-1.1 -0.6

Oct 2015

-0.3 -0.2

Nov 2015

-0.6 -0.7

Dec 2015

-1.2 -1.1

Jan 2016

-1.3 -0.9

Feb 2016

-0.5 -0.4

Mar 2016

0.4 -0.1

Apr 2016

0.7 0.5

May 2016

1.2 1.1

Jun 2016

0.7 0.8

Jul 2016

0.1 0.2

Aug 2016

-0.2 -0.8

Sep 2016

0.1 0.3

Oct 2016

0.5 0.2

Nov 2016

-0.1 0.1

Dec 2016

0.4 0.4

Jan 2017

0.6 0.2

Feb 2017

0.3 0.3

Mar 2017

-0.2 0.1

Apr 2017

0.2 0.2

May 2017

-0.1 -0.6

Jun 2017

-0.2 -0.1

Jul 2017

-0.2 0.5

Aug 2017

0.6 0.6

Sep 2017

0.8 0.8

Oct 2017

0.2 0.1

Nov 2017

1.0 0.5

Dec 2017

0.2 0.1

Jan 2018

0.8 0.7

Feb 2018

0.2 0.2

Mar 2018

-0.2 0.4

Apr 2018

0.5 0.5

May 2018

0.9 0.7

Jun 2018

0.0 0.2

Jul 2018

-0.1 -0.5

Aug 2018

-0.4 -0.1

Sep 2018

0.1 0.0

Oct 2018

0.5 0.5

Nov 2018

-1.6 -0.8

Dec 2018

-1.4 -0.6

Jan 2019

0.2 -0.6

Feb 2019

1.0 0.6

Mar 2019

0.6 0.7

Apr 2019

0.2 0.1

May 2019

0.2 -0.3

Jun 2019

-1.1 -0.6

Jul 2019

0.0 0.2

Aug 2019

-0.6 -0.6

Sep 2019

0.1 -0.3

Oct 2019

-0.4 0.0

Nov 2019

0.2 0.1

Dec 2019

0.2 -0.2

Jan 2020

0.2 0.6

Feb 2020

-0.7 -1.2

Mar 2020

-2.4 -1.4

Apr 2020

-2.6 -3.5

May 2020

0.7 0.0

Jun 2020

1.4 1.2

Jul 2020

0.7 0.8

The July advance in U.S. imports was led by a 6.9 percent rise in import fuel prices; a 7.8-percent increase in petroleum prices more than offset a 9.1-percent decline in natural gas prices. Prices for nonfuel imports advanced 0.2 percent in July, driven by a rise in prices for industrial supplies and materials, capital goods, and consumer goods. Import air passenger fares declined 4.0 percent in July, and import air freight prices fell 14.3 percent.

Higher prices for nonagricultural exports and agricultural exports both contributed to the July advance in U.S. exports. Rising prices for soybeans, dairy products, corn, vegetables, cotton, and fruit more than offset falling prices for meat, nuts, and wheat. Prices for nonagricultural exports increased 0.7 percent in July, driven by a rise in prices for industrial supplies and materials, and capital goods. Export air passenger fares increased 5.5 percent in July, while export air freight prices edged down 0.1 percent.

These data are not seasonally adjusted.

 1-month change in U.S. import and export price indexes, July 2019 to July 2020
Month Fuel imports Nonfuel imports Foods, feeds, and beverages imports  Industrial supplies and materials imports  Capital goods imports  Automotive vehicles, parts and engines imports  Consumer goods, excluding automobiles imports

Jul 2019

0.1% 0.0% -0.4% 0.2% -0.1% -0.2% 0.2%

Aug 2019

-4.2 -0.1 -0.5 -2.0 -0.1 0.0 0.0

Sep 2019

1.0 -0.1 -0.8 0.7 -0.2 -0.1 0.0

Oct 2019

-1.6 -0.3 -0.3 -1.0 -0.2 0.0 -0.2

Nov 2019

2.2 -0.1 -0.4 0.9 -0.3 0.1 -0.1

Dec 2019

1.3 0.1 1.2 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1

Jan 2020

-0.1 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.0

Feb 2020

-9.1 0.2 1.2 -3.3 0.1 0.0 0.0

Mar 2020

-26.5 0.0 -1.0 -10.3 0.1 0.2 -0.3

Apr 2020

-30.9 -0.5 -1.6 -12.2 0.2 0.4 -0.1

May 2020

13.7 0.1 2.0 3.1 0.1 -0.1 0.0

Jun 2020

21.9 0.3 -0.4 7.0 0.1 0.0 0.2

Jul 2020

6.9 0.2 -1.2 3.1 0.3 -0.2 0.2
 1-month change in U.S. import and export price indexes, July 2019 to July 2020 - continued
Month Agricultural exports Nonagricultural exports  Foods, feeds, and beverages exports  Industrial supplies and materials exports  Capital goods exports Automotive vehicles, parts and engines exports  Consumer goods, excluding automobiles exports

Jul 2019

0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% -0.1% -0.2% 0.3%

Aug 2019

-2.4 -0.3 -2.1 -1.1 0.1 -0.2 -0.1

Sep 2019

-1.6 -0.2 -1.5 -0.5 0.0 -0.2 -0.2

Oct 2019

1.7 -0.2 1.7 -0.3 -0.2 -0.2 -0.2

Nov 2019

2.4 -0.1 2.2 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1

Dec 2019

-0.1 -0.2 -0.2 -0.5 0.1 -0.3 -0.1

Jan 2020

2.0 0.6 2.3 0.9 0.4 0.5 0.1

Feb 2020

-2.9 -1.1 -3.0 -3.3 0.3 0.1 0.1

Mar 2020

-1.4 -1.4 -1.5 -3.9 0.2 0.0 -0.6

Apr 2020

-3.3 -3.5 -3.1 -10.2 0.0 -0.1 -0.3

May 2020

-0.5 -0.1 -0.5 0.2 -0.1 -0.1 -0.3

Jun 2020

1.5 1.2 1.1 4.0 -0.2 -0.1 -0.1

Jul 2020

1.5 0.7 1.5 2.0 0.2 -0.3 0.5

These data are from the International Price program. Import prices are subject to revision. To learn more, see “U.S. Import and Export Prices — July 2020.” See more charts on import and export price trends.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, U.S. import prices down 3.3 percent, export prices down 4.4 percent, for the year ending July 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/u-s-import-prices-down-3-3-percent-export-prices-down-4-4-percent-for-the-year-ending-july-2020.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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