U.S. container imports from 10 major Asian economies fell 8.4% year on year in October to 1.79 million TEUs, according to Descartes Datamyne, as the Japan International Freight Forwarders Association (JIFFA) reported. Imports slipped 0.1% from September. Despite the monthly decline, volumes for the first 10 months rose 0.7% to 17 million TEUs.
China shipped 914,395 TEUs to the U.S. in October (+13.5%). Vietnam sent 239,642 TEUs (+21.6%). South Korea shipped 183,716 TEUs (–4.4%). Singapore fell to 68,331 TEUs  (–25.1%), and India to 64,204 TEUs (–21.3%). Japan ranked eighth at 37,739 TEUs    (–13.2%) but surged 44.2% from September.
Most commodity categories declined. Furniture and related goods (HS 94) fell 7.2% to 267,623 TEUs. Plastics (HS 39) rose 6.4% to 188,765 TEUs. Machinery (HS 84) dropped 3.3% to 172,568 TEUs; electronics (HS 85) fell 4.2% to 158,271 TEUs; toys and sporting goods declined 17.4% to 111,684 TEUs; and vehicles (HS 87) decreased 8.6% to 89,807 TEUs.
For January–October, machinery, plastics, and rubber products grew year on year.
Overall U.S. container imports reached 2.31 million TEUs in October, down 6.6% from a year earlier.
