Starting in March of 2018, the Trump Administration has deployed tariffs and import quotas on select steel and aluminum products under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which authorizes these measures to control imports in the cause of national security....
The Top U.S. Trade Partner is Now Mexico
Mexico, steadily rising in rank to No. 12 among exporting nations, has eclipsed China and Canada to become the U.S.’s leading trade partner. Mexico is now the top U.S. trade partner, ranked by total value of import and export trade, according to Descartes...
Easter Sunday: A Record High First Quarter Chocolate & Candy Imports
Despite some of the most popular confections being produced in the United States, the imports of chocolates and candy still represent nearly $9 billion in value annually. For confection imports as well as the raw materials to produce them (HS 17 and 18), the first...
Trade War Reshapes U.S. Import Peak Shipping
Waves of new tariffs lifted U.S. waterborne import peak shipping volumes earlier and higher than ever in 2018, while the promise of more to come pushed an atypical December surge. U.S. import peak shipping volumes charted a new course in 2018, driven largely by...
Hot Pursuit: Competition for EV Battery Metals Revs Up
A global scramble is on to secure supplies of EV battery metals – the cobalt, graphite and lithium – that go into the batteries that make electric vehicles go. The global market’s growing embrace of electric vehicles is driving demand, and sparking volatility...
U.S. Electronics Imports and Exports: Market Trends and Analysis
As the impact of shifting trade policy on the electronics sector remains to be fully seen, Descartes Datamyne has released it’s quarterly commodity report that contains detailed import and export data that shows the early effect of tariff changes. In the first half of...
U.S. and Canada’s Ongoing Lumber Dispute
Since 1982, the softwood lumber market has been a hot topic between the United States and Canada. Both countries are heavy producers with the United States producing an average of 2.9 billion board ft. (bbf) per month and Canadian sawmill’s producing 2.37 bbf/month....
Avocados Top Bananas In U.S. Fruit Imports
Ranked by value of trade, avocados moved up to No. 1 among U.S. fruit imports in 2017 and are holding a lead over bananas, formerly the most valuable fruit import, so far in 2018. Long the top among U.S. fruit imports, bananas have ceded the lead to avocados. Based on...
Reel Experts can tackle anything: U.S. seafood imports on the rise
The ease and healthiness of preparing fish, combined with concerns of over-fishing in U.S. resources and environmental implications has lead to the burgeoning growth of seafood imports. It is estimated that the United States imports nearly 80 percent of the seafood it...
Snapshot: U.S. Automobile Imports and Exports
As the U.S. Commerce Department examines whether to impose section 232 tariffs on passenger vehicles, data from Descartes DatamyneTM reveals significant changes in U.S. automobile imports and exports. U.S. Automobile Imports According to data from Descartes Datamyne,...