Foreign trade is the system by which countries exchange goods and services. Countries trade with each other to obtain things that are of better quality, less expensive or simply different from goods and services produced at home. The goods and services that are sold to other countries are called exports.

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Free on Board (FOB) value of export goods in November 2016 amounted to $36,697. The FOB value of exports in November 2016 greatly decreased as compared to the $108,386,891 FOB value in October 2016, and September 2016 FOB value of $124,168,740.

The total production volume of export goods in the region immensely dropped to 180 kilograms (kg) in November 2016 from the recorded 188,011 kg production volume last October 2016 and 199,974 kg last November 2016.

Exports By Commodity

• Among the commodities, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles were the main export goods produced in November 2016. These were valued at $36,697 of export sales, as compared to the export sales of $84,473,332 (77.9 percent share) exports sales of the region on October 2016.

Country of Destination

• The region largely exported to three countries, namely Malaysia, The Netherlands and Peoples Republic of China in November 2016. Malaysia had the biggest share of the regions export at 49.3 percent with total value of $18,076. This was followed by Peoples Republic of China with 28.8 percent amounting to $10,575, and The Netherlands at 21.9 percent or equivalent to $8,046.

Technical Notes

Free on Board Value (FOB) - is the value of the goods free on board the carrier at the frontier of the exporting country. It includes inland freight, export duty and other expenses. In addition, the value of goods in the Philippine foreign trade statistics is FOB.

Country of Destination (Exports only) - it is the country where the goods are to be consumed, further processed, or manufactured.

Country of Origin (Imports only) - it is the country where the goods are mined, grown, or manufactured or where each foreign material used or incorporated in a good underwent a change in tariff classification indicating a substantial transformation under the applicable rule of origin for the good.

Exports - the goods and services that are sold to other countries.

Imports - the goods and services that a country buys from other countries.

PSCC (Philippine Standard Commodity Classification) - is used to classify the imported commodities at the most detailed level for statistical purposes.