Declining US Container Imports Contribute to Smallest Trade Gap Since 2009
New data shows that 2025 was completed with a small decline in total U.S. imports, which fluctuated during the year and closed with strong declines from China. As the rates fell in 2025, it, however, appears that it also contributed to a narrowing of the U.S. trade deficit, which Bloomberg reports is now the smallest it has been in 16 years.
The U.S. Commerce Department released October 2025 figures with what Bloomberg terms an “unexpectedly narrowed” trade deficit. It highlights that figure, which was down 39 percent versus September to $29.4 billion, is the smallest gap since 2009. Imports were down 3.2 percent in October, while exports rose 2.6 percent.
An analysis of the data shows declines in pharmaceutical imports as well as gold, and industrial supplies and materials such as oil and metals. There, however, was an increase in inbound shipments of computers and computer accessories. Bloomberg believes companies were front-loading imports of pharmaceuticals in September ahead of Trump administration tariffs, which were scheduled to start on October 1.
The declines in import volumes continued to build in the fall reports Descartes Systems Group in its January Global Shipping Report. It highlights that while December imports at just over 2.2 million TEU were up two percent month-over-month from November, they were 5.9 percent lower than December 2024. For the full year, Descartes reports U.S. container imports slightly exceeded 28 million TEU, which was down 0.4 percent from 2024.
Descartes notes that the decreases built during 2025, which started the year with a 10 percent increase. They point to a potentially cooling economic environment, tariff concerns, trade policy uncertainties, and frontloading of shipments in early 2025.
U.S. imports from China led the declines during the year, while China grew its exports to other regions of the globe. A decline in imports from China, they report, led the December overall decline. Chinese exports to the U.S. were down nearly 22 percent in December, with China’s share of total U.S. container imports at approximately a third (31.7 percent), having fallen to its lowest level in the past six years.
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China led the overall U.S. decline with containers down nearly 22 percent in December. Other countries, including India, Taiwan, South Korea, and Italy, also experienced declines in goods sent to the U.S. Offsetting some of the import declines were gains in volumes from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, with modest gains from Japan and Hong Kong.
Descartes says as the new year begins, global supply chains continue to grapple with issues including logistics costs, ongoing uncertainty over tariffs, uneven sourcing shifts, and elevated geopolitical risks linked to the global hot spots.