We've talked here from time to time about international trade and the trade deficit and how this bears on the determination of the Gross Domestic Product -- the final measure of how the country is faring economically. Today, we'll look at the international trade picture in terms of changes in the prices that we and our trading partners charge one another.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported this morning that the U.S. Import Price Index moved up 0.9 percent in April. That is, in April, the cost for stuff we bought overseas rose by almost 1 percent. The rise was led by higher prices for imported petroleum products and followed a 0.6 percent rise in March.

Prices for imported petroleum products rose by 8.1 percent in April and, since February, rose 17.0 percent. This was the largest two-month gain in over five years. But, the price index for imports, excluding petroleum, only rose by 0.1 percent in April. This was the first increase in the nonpetroleum index since last November.

Taking a longer view, it seems that prices of imported products are under control. For the year ending in April, nonpetroleum import prices rose a mere 0.2 percent, and the price index for all imports was up by just 1.6 percent -- less than our domestic rate of inflation.

How much have prices changed on export goods -- the stuff we sell overseas?

In April, the Export Price Index increased by 0.5 percent. This followed declines of 0.1 and 0.3 percent in March and February.

Prices for agricultural exports, were up 4.9 percent in April, the largest one-month change in nearly three years. This was mainly due to changes in grain prices. Agricultural export prices rose 21.9 percent for the year ended in April. Nonagricultural export prices were unchanged in April, fell 0.4 percent in March, and were down 1.5 percent over the last 12 months. The price index for all exports rose by 1.1 percent in the year ending in April.

For the year ending in April the import price index rose 1.6 percent and the export price index rose by 1.1 percent. In the year ending in April 1995, the import price index rose 6.5 percent and the export price index rose by 5.9 percent. So, during the past two years, the rise in the cost of the goods and services we buy has risen slightly faster than the rise in the prices we are able to obtain for the goods and services we sell. This is not unexpected since, for decades, our demand for imported goods and services has exceeded the demand of the rest of the world for our goods and services. On balance, we want their stuff more than they want ours. So, on balance, we buy more stuff from them than they buy from us and we pay a little more for the stuff we buy.

Byline: Lafferty (MF Merlin)