The U.S. Census Bureau keeps statistics on U.S. imports and exports on its website. The following steps will take you to the foreign trade statistics. Use them to answer the questions below.
(i) Go to the U.S. Census Bureau's website at www.census.gov
(ii) Under the heading "Business & Industry," select "Foreign Trade".
(iii) At the top of the page, select "Data"
(iv) Then select "Country/Product Trade".
(v) Under the heading "North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)-Based," select "NAICS web application".
(vi) In the drop-down menu "3-digit and 6-digit NAICS by country," select the product category you are interested in, and hit "Go".
(vii) In the drop-down menu "Select 6-digit NAICS," select the good or service you are interested in, and hit "Go".
(viii) In the drop-down menus that allow you to select a month and year, select "December" and "2010," and hit "Go".
(ix) The right side of the table now shows the import and export statistics for the entire year 2010. For the questions below on U.S. imports, use the column for "Consumption Imports, Customs Value Basis."
a. Look up data for U.S. imports of hats and caps: in step
(vi), select "(315) Apparel & Accessories" and in step.
(vii), select "(315991) Hats and Caps." From which country do we import the most hats and caps? Which of the three sources of comparative advantage (climate, factor endowments, and technology) accounts for that country's comparative advantage in hat and cap production?
b. Look up data for U.S. imports of grapes: in step
(vi), select "(111) Agricultural Products" and in step.
(vii), select "(111332) Grapes." From which country do we import the most grapes? Which of the three sources of comparative advantage (climate, factor endowments, and technology) accounts for that country's comparative advantage in grape production?
c. Look up data for U.S. imports of food product machinery: in step
(vi), select "(333) Machinery, Except Electrical" and in step
(vii), select "(333294) Food Product Machinery." From which country do we import the most food product machinery? Which of the three sources of comparative advantage (climate, factor endowments, and technology) accounts for that country's comparative advantage in food product machinery?