BEA is expanding its prototype statistics that provide a more complete and nuanced understanding of U.S. exports. Watch for an update and expansion of the statistics known as trade in value added, or TiVA, coming in March.

TiVA data can be used to analyze the mix of domestic value added and imported content, such as raw materials, that contributes to the goods and services exported from the United States. For example, an exported airliner assembled in the state of Washington might incorporate an engine made in Great Britain and tires made in Ohio. And the tire manufacturer in Ohio might have used rubber from China and steel belting from Mexico.

The updated TiVA statistics being prepared for release next month will include revised data for 2007 to 2020 and new data for 2021. The number of industries covered will expand from 81 to 138. The data will also include new regional breakouts—adding trade with Japan and the rest of Asia/Oceania, to increase the number of global regions to seven from the current five (Canada, China, Europe, Mexico, and the rest of the world).

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first TiVA statistics in late 2021. TiVA data are part of BEA’s effort to better understand global value chains—the increasingly complicated supply chains that link many countries together to produce a good or service.

Each month, the Census Bureau and BEA report the value of U.S. exports and imports of goods and services. The TiVA statistics look below this gross flow of trade to show how U.S. industries not typically associated with foreign trade contribute indirectly to U.S. exports. TiVA data also show how imported content within the supply chain contributes to the production of U.S. exports.

The data can be analyzed to answer questions such as:

• How much value does imported content add to U.S. exports? Which global regions does this imported content come from?
• How did the COVID-19 pandemic and related shutdowns in 2020 affect the mix of domestic and foreign content within U.S. exports?
• How has the mix of domestic and foreign value in exports to China changed in recent years?
• Which domestic industries, such as semiconductor manufacturing, contribute indirectly to the supply chain that supports U.S. exports?

TiVA statistics are produced as part of a collaboration with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics of the National Science Foundation.

To see the currently available statistics and learn more about them, visit BEA’s global value chains webpage and read the Survey of Current Business article,  “National Trade in Value Added Statistics: Uses and Applications.”

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