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Government Documents - Department of Commerce: Home

Guide to Department of Commerce and its subsidiary agencies. Our holdings cover a wide range of topics including trade, demographics, climate, fisheries, marine science, and many others.

The Department of Commerce and Labor was established in 1903. In 1913, the Department of Labor was established as a separated Cabinet-level agency. The Department of Commerce is responsible for promoting American business interests in the world. It also manages the collection and dissemination of economic statistics, and it handles a surprising variety of other functions.

 

Government Documents holds an extensive collection of Department of Commerce publications, mostly from the 1910s to the present, including the following series:

Annual report of the Secretary (C 1.1:)

Commerce today/Commerce America/Business America (C 1.58/2:)

Foreign direct investment in the United States (C 59.2:F 76/6/)

Older Department of Commerce documents are available in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in HeinOnline (UHM login required). Additional documents covering 1910-1932 are available in the Executive Branch Documents microfiche set. Approximately 25% of our holdings are listed in OneSearch. Please contact a government documents librarian if you have questions about our holdings.

We also have a variety of general publications, pamphlets, and other Commerce materials, as well as Congressional hearings, documents, and reports about the commercial relations and activities of the U.S., weather, climate, fisheries, trade policy, and other matters handled by the Department of Commerce.

The Department of Commerce has published trade data in a variety of formats. Government Documents provides access to the following resources:

  • Access to import and export data from 1992-present is through USA Trade. Access is free, but you must sign up for a free account to use the database. We also have access to USA Trade through the Federal Depository Library Program. A librarian must type the password in for the user, so users must come to Hamilton Library to use the database and it is not possible to access USA Trade remotely unless you sign up for a personal account.
  • U.S. imports of merchandise and U.S. exports of merchandise are CD-ROM/DVD databases of import and export data.
  • National Trade Data Bank CD-ROMs contain trade data such as imports and exports of commodities and market research reports. It was superseded by STAT-USA, an online database that was discontinued in 2010.
  • Historical statistics about commerce, trade, and industries can be found in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, available in HeinOnline (UHM login required).
Monk seal underwater

Monk Seal Population Increases for Past 3 Years

Sailing vessel

Maritime Museums in the United States

Drawings of fish

Annual report of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Technological Laboratory for 1967

Image of a hurricane from above

Federal Plan for Weather Radars & Remote Displays

Subject Guide

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Gwen Sinclair
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