Trade Balance API Reference

Overview

Trade Balance sources data from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) using the Census Bureau FT-900 Balance of Payments series, providing seasonally adjusted monthly exports, imports, and the trade balance in millions of US dollars, with history back to 1992. With changes=true every reading includes the previous month's balance, and paid plans add the percent change in exports and imports from the month before and the year before, the change in the balance, rolling 12-month exports, imports and balance, and the 12 monthly readings with history=true. Track the US balance of trade, the trade deficit or surplus, and imports and exports month by month.

Live Test Trade Balance API →

Endpoint

One host, one path per API. The block below shows this call in four languages; every one of them is the same HTTP request. Making requests covers the timeouts, retries and parameter rules that apply to all of them. The SDKs wrap the same call in a typed client.

GEThttps://api.apiverve.com/v1/tradebalance

1
2

curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/tradebalance?date=2023-06&history=true&changes=true" \
  -H "x-api-key: your_api_key_here"

const res = await fetch('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/tradebalance?date=2023-06&history=true&changes=true', {
  headers: { 'x-api-key': 'your_api_key_here' },
});

if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);

const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/tradebalance?date=2023-06&history=true&changes=true",
    headers={"x-api-key": "your_api_key_here"},
    timeout=15,
)
res.raise_for_status()

print(res.json()["data"])

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/tradebalance?date=2023-06&history=true&changes=true", nil)
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "your_api_key_here")

	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	out, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(out))
}

Replace your_api_key_here with the key from your dashboard. When the inputs arrive as a list rather than one at a time, batch requests run up to 200 of them through this same API in a single call.

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — there is no token exchange and no per-endpoint scope to configure. Authentication covers creating, rotating and revoking keys.

401 is the only auth verdict

A 401 means the key is missing, invalid or expired. A 403 means the key is valid but not permitted here — blocked by a key restriction or an IP allow-list. Running out of credits is a 429.

Parameters

Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

Parameter	Type	Description
`date`Optional	string	Optional date in YYYY-MM format for historical lookup. Omit for current data. date
`history`OptionalPremium	boolean	Include the 12 monthly readings ending at the returned month
`changes`Optional	boolean	Include the previous month's balance, month-on-month and year-on-year changes and rolling 12-month totals

Response

Every API returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape. Response format covers the envelope, the other output formats and how premium fields are withheld.

Sample response

{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "yearMonth": "2026-08",
    "year": 2026,
    "month": 8,
    "exports": 315182,
    "imports": 420754,
    "balance": -105572,
    "unit": "millions_usd",
    "exportsFormatted": "$315.18 billion",
    "importsFormatted": "$420.75 billion",
    "balanceFormatted": "-$105.57 billion",
    "tradeStatus": "deficit",
    "updatedAt": "2026-10-28T03:39:54.665Z",
    "previousYearMonth": "2026-07",
    "previousBalance": -92826,
    "exportsChange1m": 1.435,
    "importsChange1m": 4.2632,
    "balanceChange1m": -12746,
    "exportsChange12m": 10.6908,
    "importsChange12m": 22.1762,
    "balanceChange12m": -45930,
    "exports12m": 3697470,
    "imports12m": 4491225,
    "balance12m": -793756,
    "history": [
      {
        "yearMonth": "2025-09",
        "exports": 292352,
        "imports": 351743,
        "balance": -59392
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2025-10",
        "exports": 301158,
        "imports": 338534,
        "balance": -37376
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2025-11",
        "exports": 289504,
        "imports": 353372,
        "balance": -63868
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2025-12",
        "exports": 285282,
        "imports": 361360,
        "balance": -76078
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-01",
        "exports": 301271,
        "imports": 353941,
        "balance": -52670
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-02",
        "exports": 313628,
        "imports": 366127,
        "balance": -52500
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-03",
        "exports": 321163,
        "imports": 374820,
        "balance": -53657
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-04",
        "exports": 329893,
        "imports": 382776,
        "balance": -52883
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-05",
        "exports": 319979,
        "imports": 395731,
        "balance": -75752
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-06",
        "exports": 317335,
        "imports": 388517,
        "balance": -71182
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-07",
        "exports": 310723,
        "imports": 403550,
        "balance": -92826
      },
      {
        "yearMonth": "2026-08",
        "exports": 315182,
        "imports": 420754,
        "balance": -105572
      }
    ]
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Field	Type	Example	Description
`yearMonth`	string	`"2026-08"`	Year and month in YYYY-MM format for the trade data
`year`	number	`2026`	The calendar year for the trade balance data
`month`	number	`8`	The month number (1-12) for trade balance data
`exports`	number	`315182`	US exports of goods and services for the month, in millions of USD (BOP basis, seasonally adjusted)
`imports`	number	`420754`	US imports of goods and services for the month, in millions of USD (BOP basis, seasonally adjusted)
`balance`	number	`-105572`	Trade balance (exports minus imports) for the month, in millions of USD. Negative means a trade deficit
`unit`	string	`"millions_usd"`	Unit for the exports, imports, and balance figures (millions_usd)
`exportsFormatted`Premium	string	`"$315.18 billion"`	Human-readable exports figure (e.g., $265.20 billion)
`importsFormatted`Premium	string	`"$420.75 billion"`	Human-readable imports figure (e.g., $340.40 billion)
`balanceFormatted`Premium	string	`"-$105.57 billion"`	Human-readable trade balance figure (e.g., -$75.20 billion)
`tradeStatus`	string	`"deficit"`	Whether the month was a trade deficit or surplus
`updatedAt`	string	`"2026-10-28T03:39:54.665Z"`	ISO 8601 timestamp when the trade data was last updated
`previousYearMonth`	string	`"2026-07"`	Month of the previous reading (YYYY-MM) (with changes=true)
`previousBalance`	number	`-92826`	Previous month's trade balance in millions of USD (with changes=true)
`exportsChange1m`Premium	number	`1.435`	Percent change in exports from the previous month (with changes=true)
`importsChange1m`Premium	number	`4.2632`	Percent change in imports from the previous month (with changes=true)
`balanceChange1m`Premium	number	`-12746`	Change in the balance from the previous month, in millions of USD (negative means a wider deficit or smaller surplus) (with changes=true)
`exportsChange12m`Premium	number	`10.6908`	Percent change in exports from the same month a year earlier (with changes=true)
`importsChange12m`Premium	number	`22.1762`	Percent change in imports from the same month a year earlier (with changes=true)
`balanceChange12m`Premium	number	`-45930`	Change in the balance from the same month a year earlier, in millions of USD (with changes=true)
`exports12m`Premium	number	`3697470`	Total exports over the 12 months ending at the returned month, in millions of USD (with changes=true)
`imports12m`Premium	number	`4491225`	Total imports over the 12 months ending at the returned month, in millions of USD (with changes=true)
`balance12m`Premium	number	`-793756`	Total balance over the 12 months ending at the returned month, in millions of USD (with changes=true)
`history`Premium	array[12]		The 12 monthly readings ending at the returned month, oldest first (when history=true)
`yearMonth`Premium	string	`"2025-09"`	Month of the reading (YYYY-MM)
`exports`Premium	number	`292352`	Exports in millions of USD
`imports`Premium	number	`351743`	Imports in millions of USD
`balance`Premium	number	`-59392`	Trade balance in millions of USD

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change. Error handling covers the full status list and which of them are worth retrying.

Status	Meaning	What to do
`400`	Input was rejected	Read `error`; it names the parameter.
`401`	Key missing or invalid	Check the header name and the key value.
`403`	Key valid, but not permitted	A key restriction or IP allow-list; see key scoping.
`429`	Rate limited, or out of credits	Read `error` to tell them apart; see rate limits.

Use cases

Economic Analysis: Track US trade patterns for economic research
Policy Research: Analyze trade data for policy research and analysis
Business Intelligence: Factor trade trends into business planning

Other ways to use Trade Balance

Set up Trade Balance on APIVerve, or reach the same source a different way. Your APIVerve account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

Give it to an AI agentConnect over MCP and your agent calls it as a native tool — Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT.VerveKit →Reference →

Google Sheets or ExcelA =VERVE() formula fills a column — no script, no export, recalculates in place.VerveSheets →Reference →

Ground an agent on itA cited, machine-checkable fact your model can't produce on its own.VerveContext →Reference →

Trade Balance