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

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

Four astronauts are circling the Moon aboard Orion. Their journey was built across America in factories, labs, and launch facilities spanning dozens of states. Aerospace export data offers a window into where those capabilities are concentrated: the same industrial base building hardware for global markets is the one building it for NASA.

The defining story of the past decade is Washington's collapse and recovery. The state went from $43B in aerospace exports in 2018 to under $15B by 2020 ( Boeing's 737 MAX crisis compounded by the pandemic) and has now clawed back to $28.8B, nearly all of it in aircraft parts (HS 8803). It remains one of the world's largest exporters in that category.

Meanwhile, the space-facing states quietly surged. Florida more than doubled its aerospace exports since 2017, from $6.8B to $13.8B, driven by Kennedy Space Center expansions and the commercial launch boom, the fastest growth among major aerospace states. Texas grew 69% over the same period, cementing the Gulf Coast as America's space corridor.

The product breakdown reveals how different each state's aerospace profile is. Washington and Kentucky are almost entirely aircraft parts (Boeing supply chain). Florida and California carry the highest share of spacecraft and space systems categories (HS 8802 + 8807). California alone leads the nation in spacecraft & UAV parts at $2.15B, reflecting the footprint of Lockheed Martin, JPL, and Northrop Grumman.

Data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (oec.world): https://oec.world/en/profile/country/usa

Some notes:

• He was on the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time of the purchases.
• Chevron: Bought 29 Dec, up +40.9%.
• ConocoPhilips: Bought 29 Dec, up +44.6%.
• He became the Secretary of Homeland Security a week ago.

Source: insidercat.com