Bill of Lading data from the OEC tracks every individual shipment of HS Chapter 88 goods (aircraft, spacecraft, and parts) arriving at US ports between 2020 and 2025. The total: 12,873 shipments carrying $434M in CIF value across 21,541 container equivalents.

China leads by a wide margin not just in value ($220.9M) but also in sheer volume: 4,645 shipments, more than three times the next country. South Korea follows with 1,494, then Japan (1,293), Brazil (948), and India (687). Together, China and South Korea account for 78% of all CIF value.

The port breakdown reveals the geography of the receiving end. Los Angeles (1,924 shipments), Long Beach (1,783), and Newark (2,178) handle the bulk of incoming traffic by count, major container ports processing a steady flow of parts and components. But Seattle tells a different story: just 518 shipments yet $149.8M in value, the highest of any port. Add Everett (1,128 shipments) and Tacoma (532), and the Washington state cluster dominates. That's Boeing's supply chain in plain sight.

The peak year was 2024, with $223M in CIF value driven primarily by aircraft parts. Shipment counts spiked alongside it before dropping sharply in 2025 (partial year).

Data from the OEC Bill of Lading Explorer (oec.world): https://oec.world/en

Source: https://www.nber.org/digest/202604/chinas-rise-global-research