International trade affects our liv es every day when we buy goods and services imported from other countries or when goods and services produced by companies in our community are exported to other countries. Trends and developments in international trade affect the prices we pay for various goods and services as well as local, state, national, foreign, and international economic conditions. Governments publish tremendous amounts of statistics and analysis on international trade and many government agencies produce international trade information.

Many of these government publications can be found in Purdue Libraries with the HSSE and MEL Libraries having most of these. Examples of Library Catalog subject headings you can use to locate government documents on international trade within Purdue Libraries include:

Favored Nation Clause United States
Free Trade United States
International Trade
Tariff
Tariff Law and Legislation United States
United States Foreign Economic Relations
United States Foreign Economic Relations China

The principal index for locating U.S. Government publications is the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications HSSE REF & Periodicals 016.353 Un36. It is also online from 1994-present. The GPO Index on the Purdue Libraries Databases & Resources page also indexes U.S. Government documents from 1976-present. Additional indexes you can use include the Congressional Information Service (CIS) Index HSSE REF 328.73005 C76 covering congressional publications, the CIS U.S. Congressional Serial Set Index 1789-1969 HSSE REF 328.73 C761c, CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents 1789-1909 HSSE REF 351.73 C497 1990, and CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents 1910-1932 HSSE REF 351.73 C497 1996.

Examples of U.S. Government executive branch and independent agency publications dealing with international trade include:

Congressional committees and legislative branch support agencies also produce numerous publications on international trade.  Such publications document the performance of agency programs and provide funding information on these programs.  Examples include:

Internet Resources

Increasing volumes of U.S. Government information are available on the Internet. The Purdue Libraries Government Documents Department homepage is a starting point. GPO Access provides access to major U.S. Government legal, legislative, and regulatory information sources such as congressional bills, congressional committee reports, the Federal Register, and U.S. Code.  Other Internet resources of U.S. Government international trade information include:

International Government Organizations

Foreign Governments