Census import snapshot · 2026-08
America’s $522.1B import month, one product line at a time
$522.1B in general imports spread across 3,680 HS6 product lines. The single largest — HS 270900 — accounts for 14.9% on its own.
Coverage 2026-08 · Source: US Census Bureau International Trade API · Data retrieved 2026-10-22T07:56:31Z
270900, is worth $77.7B
(14.9%); everything below $10M per
line combined adds about $4.0B.Top import lines, 2026-08
The twelve largest HS6 lines of 3,680 total. Values are general imports (customs basis), summed over all partner countries; 204 of 3,680 lines recorded zero value this month (zero-value lines sit in the smallest size band below).
| # | HS6 | Heading | Value | Share | % of total | Top origin | Partners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 270900 | Crude Petroleum Testing Under 25 Degrees Api | $77.7B | 14.9% | Oecd | 47 | |
| 2 | 300490 | Antineoplastic/immunosupressive Medicaments, Nesoi | $25.8B | 4.9% | Oecd | 85 | |
| 3 | 300215 | Immunological Prdcts, Contain Monoclonal Antibodies | $18.9B | 3.6% | Oecd | 59 | |
| 4 | 271019 | Heavy Fl Oil, Distl/resd, Lt 25 Deg, Nt Biodsel Nesoi | $14.1B | 2.7% | Oecd | 94 | |
| 5 | 710813 | Gold, Semimanufactured, 99.5% Pure, Nt Othwse Mked | $13.0B | 2.5% | Oecd | 60 | |
| 6 | 271012 | Motor Fuel, Not Containing Biodiesel, Nesoi | $7.4B | 1.4% | Oecd | 63 | |
| 7 | 710812 | Gold Dore, Unwrought, Nonmonetary | $6.3B | 1.2% | Twenty Latin American Republics | 70 | |
| 8 | 710691 | Silver Bullion, Unwrought | $5.2B | 1.0% | Oecd | 66 | |
| 9 | 392690 | Articles Of Plastics Etc, Nesoi | $5.0B | 1.0% | Apec | 176 | |
| 10 | 401110 | Radial Tires W Rim Diameter >45.72 Cm (18 Inches) | $4.2B | 0.8% | Apec | 74 | |
| 11 | 300439 | Medicaments W/ Hormones Or Products Of 2937, Nesoi | $4.2B | 0.8% | Apec | 49 | |
| 12 | 300214 | Immun Prod W Monoclonal Antibodies, Not For Retail | $4.2B | 0.8% | Apec | 54 |
By HS chapter
The same $522.1B rolled up to two-digit chapters. Chapters 27, 30, 71 alone carry 40.1% of the month.
| # | Ch. | Chapter | Value | Share | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Chapter 27 · Mineral fuels, oils | $107.5B | 20.6% | |
| 2 | 30 | Chapter 30 · Pharmaceuticals | $64.8B | 12.4% | |
| 3 | 71 | Chapter 71 · Precious stones & metals | $36.9B | 7.1% | |
| 4 | 39 | Chapter 39 · Plastics | $32.8B | 6.3% | |
| 5 | 61 | Chapter 61 · Knitted apparel | $16.2B | 3.1% | |
| 6 | 29 | Chapter 29 · Organic chemicals | $15.0B | 2.9% | |
| 7 | 40 | Chapter 40 · Rubber | $14.5B | 2.8% | |
| 8 | 22 | Chapter 22 · Beverages, spirits | $14.0B | 2.7% | |
| All | Remaining 64 chapters (aggregate) | $220.4B | 42.2% |
Concentration and long tail
| Size band | Lines | Combined value | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| At or above $100M | 680 | $470.4B | 90.1% |
| $10M-$100M | 1,246 | $47.6B | 9.1% |
| $1M-$10M | 948 | $3.8B | 0.7% |
| Below $1M | 806 | $203.4M | 0.04% |
Methodology & provenance
- Source: US Census Bureau International Trade API, HS10 detail rows for 2026-08, aggregated to HS6. Public domain (17 USC 105); redistributed with attribution.
- Input artifact:
data/census-intl-trade/
census_imports_hs6_monthly.jsonl · sha256 220177c9ae5fe1b7… (full digest published alongside the dataset artifact) - Pipeline: 366,786 partner-country detail rows consumed; 12,962 aggregate-total rows excluded; 3,680 HS6 aggregates emitted by scripts/gen_census_trade.py.
- Field semantics: imports_gen_val_mo = sum of GEN_VAL_MO over partner-country rows; partners = distinct CTY_CODE count excluding aggregate totals.
- Values are summed over partner countries as published by Census; the “Top origin” column shows the single largest partner country or group (Census CTY rollups such as OECD and APEC mark groups, not individual countries).
- Freshness: latest contributor fetch 2026-10-22T07:56:31Z. Monthly refresh follows the Census release calendar; this page is regenerated from the archived artifact, never hand-edited.
FAQ
What is the largest US import category by value?
For 2026-08, the single largest HS6 line is 270900 (Mineral fuels, oils family) at $77.7B, 14.9% of all general imports in the dataset.
How concentrated are US imports across products?
The ten largest HS6 lines account for 34.0% of the $522.1B month total, and the twenty largest for 41.1%. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index across all 3,680 lines is 292 points — highly dispersed by DOJ/FTC merger thresholds.
Where does this data come from?
From the US Census Bureau International Trade API (public domain), aggregated to HS6 by ExportSonar's open pipeline. Every figure on this page is recomputed at build time from that archived artifact; see the methodology section for hashes and field semantics.
How much of US trade happens in small product lines?
1,754 of 3,680 HS6 lines — just under half the catalogue — sit below $10M each and together contribute only $4.0B of import value.
Watch these lines every month
This snapshot regenerates from our Census pipeline as new months land. Sign up to monitor HS lines and tariff changes before they hit your margin.
Sign up free