China’s Share of US Imports Falls to 7% as Vietnam Closes in

Trumps’ tariffs have shifted shipments from China to Southeast Asia 

The HMM Aquamarine container ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles on Monday, April 28, 2025.

Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

China’s share of US imports fell to 7.1% in May, the lowest since 2001, according to trade data published on Thursday by the US Census Bureau.

That’s a 4.3 percentage point lower than the same period last year and part of a longer-term decline that began during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. China’s share of imports was recently as high as 14.8% in September 2024, prior to Trump returning to office and implementing steep new tariffs on imports from the country.