Step One : Go to the U.S. Census page with foreign trade statistics.

LINK :U.S. Census Foreign Trade 

Step Two : Create a foreign trade spreadsheet. We will incude the countries discussed in 11.4 so far. (trade2013per6pair23)

(China, Phillipines, Cuba, Panama, Colombia)

Enter the Exports/Imports for all 5 countries from January of 2013.

LINK : Trade Balance by Country

See Sample Spreadsheet.

STEP THREE : Analyze your numbers. Think about what impact the Open Door Policy, The Spanish American War and The Panama Canal have on these numbers. What other historical events impact these numbers?

STEP FOUR : Create a document. Write 2 paragrpahs explaining why the numbers are the way they are. What do you notice? What trends do you see? What impact does the Open Door Policy, The Spanish American War and The Panama Canal have on these numbers. What other factors account for the numbers you are looking at. 

(trade2013DOCper6pair23)