International

BEA publishes annual statistics on services trade by enterprise characteristics (STEC) in tables 6.1–6.4 in BEA's International Services Interactive Data Application.¹ These statistics are also periodically featured in Survey of Current Business articles, most recently in “A Profile of U.S.

BEA publishes three sets of statistics on foreign direct investment in the United States. Statistics on 1) new foreign direct investment, 2) foreign direct investment transactions and the foreign direct investment position, and 3) the activities of multinational enterprises (AMNE).

Services trade has increased following sharp declines in March and April 2020, reflecting the resumption of trade and other business activities that were postponed or restricted because of COVID-19. Early in the year, many businesses were operating at limited capacity or ceased operations completely. The United States and other countries issued travel advisories or restrictions, which led to rapid declines in the numbers of foreign travelers to the United States and U.S. travelers abroad. To date, travel and air passenger transport services remain well below pre-pandemic levels.

The declines in March exports and imports of services were, in part, due to the impact of COVID-19. The United States and other countries issued travel advisories or restrictions, which led to rapid declines in the numbers of foreign travelers to the United States and U.S. travelers abroad. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the trade statistics for March because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

As a result of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, which was effective February 1, 2020, statistics for the “European Union” grouping in BEA’s data products will exclude the United Kingdom beginning with February 2020 for monthly series, beginning with the first quarter of 2020 for quarterly series, and beginning with 2020 for annual series:

Many U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs) have complex ownership structures in which one foreign affiliate owns other foreign affiliates. BEA’s U.S. MNE statistics cover all foreign affiliates owned by U.S. parent companies, either directly or indirectly through an affiliate, so that the data reflect the full operations of U.S. MNEs. For some of BEA’s U.S.

In the international transactions accounts, income on equity, or earnings, of foreign affiliates of U.S. multinational enterprises consists of a portion that is repatriated to the parent company in the United States in the form of dividends and a portion that is reinvested in foreign affiliates. In response to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which generally eliminated taxes on repatriated earnings, some U.S.

On September 12, 2018, the International Trade Administration’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) resumed regular publication of data on the number of overseas visitors arriving into the United States for personal or business reasons and issued revised figures for January 2015 through December 2017.