We reported in our last issue that the Census Bureau has made some important changes to the way it reports exports to Canada in response to our questions and suggestions.
Analysts now have new visibility into four categories:
- Exports of revolvers have been broken out from pistols and are reported separately.
- Exports of autoloading centerfire rifles have been broken out from other centerfire rifles.
- Exports of pump action shotguns have been broken out from other shotguns.
- Exports of military rifles used to be reported as exports of military shotguns. Now they are reported correctly, as military rifles.
These changes not only allow us to track exports in four categories, but also increase the precision of the categories that previously contained this data.
In our September issue, we identified seven product categories for which exports to Canada were not being reported. So, where are the exports in the three remaining categories?
– Centerfire – Bolt Action – Single-Shot Rifles
We believe that exports of single-shot bolt action rifles are included in the published data for Rifles – Centerfire – Bolt Action – Other. The Census Bureau does not disclose its exact methodology for converting Canadian import data into U.S. export data, so this is our best guess.
– Parts for Military Rifles / Parts for Military Shotguns
We have determined that exports to Canada of parts for military rifles and shotguns are lumped together with exports of parts for large guns and armament in Schedule B category 9305.91.3030.
We have no way to segregate rifle and shotgun parts from parts for heavier weapons. Therefore, we have decided not to report on these two categories for Canada. The data just isn’t there.
– Concluding Thoughts on Canada
It is ironic and disappointing that the largest export market is the one for which the published data falls short. We have annotated our Canada report (page 27) to address the three categories for which no data exists.
