Japan International Freight Forwarders Association (JIFFA) reported that container exports from 10 major Asian countries and regions to the United States fell by 23.2% to 1.31 million TEUs in December.
This is the fifth consecutive decrease on a year-on-year basis, according to Miami-headquartered trade firm Descartes Datamyne.
US imports, meanwhile, totaled over 1.94 million TEUs, which plummeted 19.3% and have suffered a year-on-year contraction for four months running.
In particular, boxes from China to the US sank 30.1% to 736,523 TEUs, from South Korea shrank 5.4% to 151,662 TEUs and from Taiwan slid 8% to 77,240 TEUs.
In contrast, exports from Vietnam improved by 7.8% to 123,741 TEUs, while those from Japan jumped 36.2% to 33,523 TEUs.
