International Trade Data References: Global, U.S., State, Metro & Company Data

In addition to the primary TI providers much referred to within the articles published on World Trade Daily, there are a number of valuable statistical sources that are useful when trying to develop a complete picture of International Trade.  These include sources that provide Global, U.S., State and Metro trade statistics.  They include the following:

• Metro Export Statistics
• U.S. Small to medium sized businesses exports
• State Trade Statistics (Government Source)
• State Manufacturing and Trade (National Manufacturers Association)
• U.S. Agricultural Trade
• Interactive U.S. Statistical Database (One of the best resources.  You must register and login,  but it’s free)
• Jump site for the International Trade Administration with links to many data resources.
• Global Trade Statistics – World Trade Organization
• Global Trade Statistics UN Comtrade (free, one of the best sources)
• Good supplemental source for Global data – The World Bank

Beyond the resources referenced above, which are mostly places to get hard facts, data and charts, it still remains a matter of interpreting the data, making sense of it, seeing patterns, making observations, and “spicing” /dressing it up a bit with some Google research as well as your own intuition (based upon intelligence, knowledge and experience).

Some other interesting articles I ran across recently as an adjunct or primer to the above are the links below. They are particularly helpful when trying to prioritize which cities, companies, states to select from when conducting research and developing analyses.

• Forbes articles on top 10 U.S. importers and top ten exporters
• Top 50 U.S. importers (2009) from Zepol
• List of Top 2000 companies in the world
• Leading Exporters (Countries) wiki
• Leading importers (countries) wiki
• Leading U.S. Trading Partners wiki
• Article about top ten countries that buy stuff from U.S. 
• Sister article to above naming top ten countries that sell stuff to us. 
• Very good PDF listing top exporting Cities in the U.S.  Useful as reference material. Also see the Original article.
• U.S. government source (international trade administration) for top exporting cities .
• Another (old list of top U.S. Importers).
• Nice overview on worlds largest exporting counties (top 10).
• Wiki on international trade (primer).