The U.S. Census Bureau is the federal agency, part of the Department of Commerce, responsible for collecting and publishing data about the U.S. economy and population. For international trade, the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division (FTD) is the authoritative source of U.S. import and export statistics.
FTD's trade responsibilities include:
- Publishing official U.S. trade statistics — Monthly and annual figures on U.S. imports and exports by commodity, country, port, and customs district
- Maintaining Schedule B — The 10-digit export classification system, updated annually
- Operating the Automated Export System (AES) in partnership with CBP — the system through which exporters file Electronic Export Information (EEI)
- Enforcing the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) — 15 CFR Part 30, which governs EEI filing requirements and penalties
The Census Bureau publishes the monthly U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report (FT900) jointly with the Bureau of Economic Analysis. It also maintains USA Trade Online and the USA Trade Data, which provide free public access to detailed import and export statistics at the 10-digit HTS and Schedule B level.
For day-to-day trade compliance, Census interaction most often happens through AES filings — failed or rejected AES filings result in Census-issued penalties (separate from CBP penalties), and Census auditors periodically review exporter records for FTR compliance.