Book excerpt: United States Foreign Trade Highlights: Trends in the Global Market brings together a wide variety of government data to assist users in assessing trends in U.S. international trade. Building on Foreign Trade Highlights from the Department of Commerce, last published in 2002, this volume features: Five data sections with aggregate statistics accompanied by summaries, tables and charts with concise text and figures. U.S. international transactions and investment position data that provide key statistics on the current account and net international debt status, and are the broadest measures of foreign trade and capital flows. U.S. foreign trade data for export goods and services that provide a wealth of information about trends in the external sector, including detailed commodities, trade with major regions and countries, and the export activity of each state. A full explanatory discussion of data sources, which assists in understanding the multiple foreign trade statistics that appear in the press and in academic discussions of trade issues