The following databases provide either full-text articles or citations (information about when and where the article was published). Once you have a citation for an article, use the Find It! @ Wellesleylink from each citation to search one or more electronic journal sources through the Wellesley College Library Catalog. Use the name of the journal as the title and make sure you look at the dates covered carefully! If Wellesley does not own the article, you can request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

EconLit is the electronic bibliographic database of the American Economic Association. This database indexes books over 60 pages, articles in journals (1969+), chapters in books, conference proceedings, dissertations (1987+), book reviews (9/1994+) and selected working papers (1984+).

NBER Working Papers and Trade and Investment papers - The National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization founded in 1920. The working papers are written by leading scholars in their particular fields. The papers may be searched by keyword or browsed by NBER Program. In many cases, the full text may be viewed using Adobe Acrobat.

RGE Monitor - ahead-of-the-curve information on global economic and geostrategic issues. Current news, blogs by economic experts, and timely analysis and issue reports.

IDEAS (Internet Documents in Economics Access Service) [UConn] and EconPapers on International Trade - most are downloadable.

World Trade Organization Staff Working Papers - should be downloadable.

Export.gov - designed for the business person, includes trade leads and market research. Includes Industry, Trade, and the Economy: Data and Analysis.

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. International Trade Administration - (exports) helps U.S. businesses select commodities and markets, ensures access to international markets as required by trade agreements, and protects against unfair competition.

U.S. International Trade Commission - an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.

U.S. Office of Trade and Economic Analysis - trade data (including state data), trade analysis, and industry information.

U.S. Trade Representative - responsible for developing and implementing trade policies which promote world growth, and create new opportunities for American businesses, workers, and agricultural producers. This site contains information about trade agreements and policy.

U.S. Trade and Development Agency - a foreign assistance agency that delivers its program commitments through overseas grants, contracts with U.S. firms, and the use of trust funds at several multilateral development bank groups. Seeks to establish a favorable trading environment.

U.N. Conference on Trade and Development - established in 1964, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) aims at the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy.

International Trade Center - the technical cooperation agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for operational, enterprise-oriented aspects of trade development.

World Trade Organization - the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. Also has country trade profiles and country trade policy reviews, and dispute settlement documents. Understanding the WTO.

World Customs Organization is responsible for interpretation and application of the Harmonized System (HS) of trade classification, and updates to the classification system. Use this site to find a country's tariffs.

European Union in the U.S. - a wealth of information, including stats on EU trade with the 50 U.S. states. Look at the sitemap for specific topics and links. European Union's trade policy.

Latin American Trade Network - includes working papers, briefs, and reports.

You can try the national governments' departments list from Northwestern University to look for a foreign government's Department of Trade.

Free Trade of the Americas and NAFTA

National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. 1986/87- Clapp Docs HF 1456 U53a and online (2001-)
From the USTR, arranged by country, has general info on export and import policies, tariffs, and intellectual property rights.

Canada's Trade Negotiations and Agreements - links to in depth information about all aspects of trade including agreements, statistics, social policy, and more.

Juris International - a multilingual collection of legal information on international trade; includes the full text of international trade instruments.

Market Access Sectoral and Trade Barrier Database (from the EU) - gives background information on barriers to trade for several dozen countries worldwide. Information can be obtained for specific products ("sectors") within a country.

Trade Compliance Center, in the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration. This is the U.S. Government's focal point for monitoring foreign compliance with trade agreements to make sure that U.S. firms and workers get the maximum benefits from these agreements.

Trade Agreements from SICE Foreign Trade Information System from the OAS - trade agreements affecting the American hemisphere.

The Year in Trade: Operation of the Trade Agreements Program. Clapp Docs HF 1731 A32 (1934-1998, with gaps and title change) and microfiche Clapp SuDocs ITC 1.24: (1980-1989).
Summary of selected trade agreements, bilateral trade agreements between the US and its major trading partners, and the administration of U.S. trade laws and regulations. Online 1994- (put the title in the search box).

Trade statistics are organized using various numerical coding systems. The longer the string of digits, the greater the degree of specificity of the commodity. One or two digit numbers represent greatly aggregated data for broad categories of commodities. Seven or ten digit numbers represent fairly specific commodities.

The two main systems in use today for international trade statistics are the Harmonised System (HS) and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). Before the United States adopted the HS in 1989, some of its published data was organized according to the Tariff Schedules of the United States of America (TSUSA), so this system might be needed for doing some historical research.

These codes schemes are occasionally revised. You should be aware of the revision being used for the data that you're studying and use the appropriate revision of the code book.

Although you can get a code number quickly from the alphabetic index in the printed code books, the definitions in the actual body of the text will give you a better idea about how that commodity is being defined and will show its relationship to other commodities. In electronic sources, you can generally search for matching text to find commodities, without necessarily using the guides to the coding scheme. However, knowing the specific codes ahead of time and understanding how a term is used will make your search faster and more precise.

Look in the back of each revision for a concordance between versions.

• TSUSA (Tariff Schedule of the United States of America)
  Used by the United States before its adoption of the Harmonized Schedules in 1989. Data through 1988 was disseminated using both SITC and TSUSA categorizations. You must refer to the following book to translate any source using TSUSA categories.
        Continuity of Import and Export Trade Statistics after Implementation of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. Clapp SuDocs ITC 1.12:332-250
       Annex 1 = use TSUSA number (7 digit) to find new HS number (8 digit)
       Annex 2 = use proposed HS number (8 digit) to find old TSUSA number (7 digit)
• SITC (Standard International Trade Classification, derived from the HS but less detail) - up to 5 digit specificity
  International system for classifying external trade statistics.
       First Edition (1950): Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1951 1
       Revised (1960): Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1961 6
       Revision 2 (1975): Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1975 6
       Revision 3 (1985): Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1986 12
       Revision 4 (2006)
  

There are commodity indexes for the SITC which list the commodities that fall under each item in the SITC classification. There is both a numeric index and an alphabetical index.
     Commodity Indexes for the SITC, preliminary issue: Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1952 9
     Commodity Indexes for the SITC, revised: Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1964 2 and 3
     Commodity Indexes for the SITC, revision 2: Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1981 3 and 4
     Commodity Indexes for the SITC, revision 3: Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1994 10

• HS (Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System or Harmonized System)
  Developed by the World Customs Organization and now in use internationally, the HS assigns 6 digit codes for general categories. Countries which use the HS are allowed to define commodities at a more detailed level than 6 digits, but all definitions must be consistent within the 6 digit framework. The U.S. defines products using 10 digit HTS codes. Exports codes (which the U.S. calls Schedule B) are administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. Import codes are administered by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).
  The latest version of the Harmonized System (HS) adopted by the United States is published by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSA). This goes to the 10 digit level of detail.
       Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. (ITC) and Clapp SuDocs ITC 1.10: [latest ed]. Previous years (1997-)
  Country data reported to the UN as of 1988 must be submitted according to the HS coding system. In 1996 there was a major revision of the HS system. An outline of the HS coding system.

• CPC (Central Product Classification)
  Developed by the UN to provide a framework for the international comparison of statistics dealing with goods, services, and assets and to enhance harmonization among various fields of economic and related statistics. It provides less detail than other specific classification systems; e.g. HS, SITC, ISIC.
       CPC Version 1.0 Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1998 5
       CPC Version 1.1 Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 2003 3

If you retrieve data from a range of years, make sure the classification system and revision used remain the same. Look at all table headings to make sure you know what units the numbers are in.

From or to the United States

Foreign Trade Statistics [U.S. Census Bureau]

• various classification levels and time periods
• trade balance by country
• top trading partners (monthly)
• state export data by country and commodity
• balance of payments in goods and services back to 1960
• FT900 - International Trade in Goods and Services
  • data back to 1991, earlier years in microfiche Clapp C 3.164:900/ 1980+, earlier years in paper C 3.164: 1950+
  • data by principal groupings or categories, including SITC
  • data for selected countries

• includes state and metropolitan area export data, by destination and industry, based on SIC product codes
• U.S. dollar values only, no quantity statistics, includes price indexes to the 3 digit SITC level
• includes trade in goods and services
• data back to 1991

TradeStats Express - U.S. merchandise imports, exports, and trade balances; state and regional exports. Data is by 2 and 4 digit HS, 1, 2, and 3 digit SITC, and 2, 3, and 4 digit NAICS for 1989-. Find all products traded between the U.S. and another or totals for 1 product for all countries. Values only, not quantities.

• Monthly commodity detail at the 2, 4, 6, and 10 digit Harmonized System (HS) Schedule B Classification.
• Foreign and domestic export data.
• Commodity, country, and district summary files.
• Data broken out by method of transportation, and including quantity, value, and shipping weight.
• Each CD/DVD has current month and year-to-date export statistics.

U.S. Imports of Merchandise [trade in physical goods, NOT services]. Clapp Docs CD-ROM HF3000 .U815 (1990-)

• Commodity detail at the 2, 4, 6, and 10-digit Harmonized System (HS) level.
• Net quantity, value data (all methods of transportation combined)
• value and shipping weight data for vessel and air shipments in terms of commodity by country of origin, by customs district of entry, customs district of unlading, and by rate provision.
• Each CD/DVD has current month and cumulative year-to-date.

• import data (value only, not quantity, in $ and % of total) by main SITC categories
• export data (value only, not quantity, in $ and % of total) by 3 digit SITC code
• some data by regions as well as individual countries
• lists major exporters for 70 leading 3 digit commodity exports
• does NOT list imports/exports between countries
• has other economic data, inc. terms of trade, GDP, long-term debt, financial flows, foreign direct investment, balance of payments

International Trade Statistics Yearbook. Clapp Docs UN Sales XVII, 1950- . Monthly and quarterly data appear in the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, Clapp Docs HC56 .M7

   Vol. 1 = Trade by Country

• weight and value of imports and exports in U.S. $ to the group level (3-digit SITC code); selected commodities only at the subgroup (4 digit) and item (5 digit) levels.
• total value of trade by principal country (total only, NOT by commodity)

   Vol. II = Trade by Commodity

• value in U.S. $ to the group level (3 digit SITC code); selected commodities only at the subgroup (4 digit) and item (5digit) levels.
• commodity matrix tables - 3 digit SITC code, 22 major exporting countries and 20 major importing countries.

International Trade Statistics [WTO]. Clapp Docs HF1371 .I584 (2001 only) and Clapp Docs CD-ROM HF1371 .I584 (latest edition loaded on the CD-ROM computer in the Clapp reference room). Trade by sector and by region; selected countries only. Tables downloadable to Excel. Includes merchandise trade and selected services. Some data back to 1980. Choose the statistics database option to build your own tables. Product groups defined according to SITC rev. 3 and values are in U.S. dollars.

SourceOECD- NOTE: When choosing variables, you MUST expand folders. You will NOT get data if you just check the box without expanding the folders. Source OECD has a glossary of statistical terms. On the left navigation bar, choose OECD Statistics. Statistics are for OECD and selected non-OECD countries, regions, and various country groupings. Note that we only have a subscription to the OECD databases.

International Trade and Competitiveness - aggregate values; prices by major industry (in local currency).
International Trade by Commodity - value (U.S. dollars) and quantity, for partner countries, 1 to 5 digit specificity. classifications include HS1988 (1990-), HS96 (1996-), SITC Rev. 2 (1961-), and SITC Rev. 3 (1991-).

UN COMTRADE - Trade by detailed commodities and trading partners, converted to 6 different commodity classifications, covering 40 years. A true gold mine! Various ways to access the data. Quantity and value (in U.S. dollars). There is no option to download, but you may be able to cut and past into Excel.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

Tariff Information Center [USITC]

• NAICS (North American Industry Classification System)
  Developed after the signing of the NAFTA trade agreement, NAICS is a system for classifying establishments by type of economic activity. Individual industry classification numbers are 6 digits long, and is used with data collected from 1997 forward. NAICS codes are standardized to 5 digits; the 6th digit is country specific. A detailed explanation. Ask Dr. NAICS.
       1997 codes Clapp Docs HF1041.5 .N674 1997
       2002 revision Clapp Docs HF1041.5 .N674 2002
       2007 revision

• SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) Clapp Docs HF1041 .U613; editions for 1957, 1967, 1972, and 1987.
       1, 2 (major industry), 3 (industry group), and 4 (industry) digit level.
       Search the 1987 SIC manual by keyword
  

• ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification)
       Revision 1 (1958) Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1958 7
       Revision 2 (1968) Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1968 8
       Revision 3 (1989) Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1990 11
       Revision 3.1
  
  There are numeric and alphabetic indexes to the ISIC.
            Revision 1 (1959) Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1959 9
            Revision 2 (1971) Clapp Docs U.N. Sales XVII 1971 8
            Revision 3

United States

Industry Sector Data [export.gov] Based on the Annual Survey of Manufactures [U.S. Census Bureau]; data is by 3, 4, 5, and 6 digit NAICS code; values and workers for 1997-.

U.S. Economic Census [U.S. Census Bureau] - 1992 onward is available online. Data for the U.S., metropolitan areas, states, and counties broken down by 6 digit NAICS/SIC code. Previous years available in Clapp Docs under various Docs HC call numbers.

International