How to Access US Import Data: 4 Methods Compared (Step-by-Step)

Key Takeaways

• The US is the largest customs-data publisher in the world — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) releases shipment-level bill-of-lading records for ocean imports under FOIA, and the US Census Bureau publishes country-level statistics through USA Trade Online.

• Public US import data covers ocean freight only — it does not include air freight, postal/express parcels, bonded-warehouse moves, or Section 321 de minimis shipments under $800. That single fact rules out e-commerce in/out flows entirely from the public record.

• 4 methods to access the data, with very different trade-offs: (1) CBP FOIA bulk request, (2) Census USA Trade Online, (3) free aggregators like ImportYeti/Volza, (4) paid trade intelligence platforms.

• The same query produces wildly different answers depending on the method — a search for US importers of Vietnamese solar panels (HS 8541) returns 0 named companies on USA Trade Online, ~50 on free aggregators, and 200+ on paid platforms with house-BOL enrichment.

• For one-off research, free is fine; for systematic work, the time you spend wrangling FOIA spreadsheets exceeds any subscription cost — typically within 2–3 hours of monthly research time.

What "US Import Data" Actually Includes (and Doesn't)

Before comparing methods, be clear on what's actually in the dataset.

Included — Sea-freight (vessel) imports filed under the Automated Manifest System (AMS), governed by the 24-hour advance manifest rule in force since December 2003. Each record has a shipper, consignee, port of loading, port of discharge, vessel, container, HS code, gross weight, and description.

Not included in public data:- Air freight — Air manifest data is filed separately and is not released through public FOIA channels.

• Postal and express parcel — UPS, FedEx, DHL parcels enter under different filings and are excluded.

• Section 321 de minimis — Shipments valued under $800 enter duty-free without formal entry; CBP processes ~3 million de minimis parcels per day in 2025, none of which appear in BOL data. (US e-commerce imports from China, Vietnam, and Indonesia are largely invisible because of this.)

• Customs declaration values and duties paid — These live in ACE, CBP's non-public declaration system.

• Land border imports (some) — Truck and rail freight at land ports of entry have partial coverage; bonded freight has limited coverage.

So when somebody says "US import data," they almost always mean AMS-derived ocean BOL data. That covers approximately 90% of US imports by value but a much smaller percentage by transaction count, because of the de minimis exclusion.

Track competitor shipments into U.S. ports, sourcing shifts, and HS code volume changes with yTrade's customs database trusted by 1,000+ leading companies.

Method 1: CBP FOIA Bulk Download (Free, DIY)

CBP releases AMS bill-of-lading data under the Freedom of Information Act. This is the original source — every aggregator and platform you'll see is downstream of it.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to CBP's FOIA portal or work through foiaonline.gov.

2. Submit a FOIA request specifying the data range and fields you want. Most requesters use a recurring template that asks for a monthly batch of vessel manifest data.

3. Wait. Standard FOIA processing under 5 U.S.C. § 552 is 20 working days; in practice CBP routinely takes 4–6 weeks for bulk data.

4. Receive a fixed-width or pipe-delimited file. Process it.

What you get:

Complete AMS BOL fields, raw, no normalization, no entity matching.

Pros: Free, complete, authoritative.

Cons: Files are 1–10 GB per month, no entity normalization (so "WALMART INC.", "WAL MART STORES INC.", and "WALMART STORES" are three separate entities you'll have to reconcile), no search interface, no de-duplication of master vs house BOL filings, requires an ETL pipeline to do anything with.

Use it when: You're a data engineering team building your own pipeline, an academic researcher, or a journalist on a one-off investigation. Not viable for ongoing sales prospecting.

Method 2: USA Trade Online (Free, Aggregates Only)

The Census Bureau's USA Trade Online publishes monthly trade statistics aggregated by HS code, country of origin, and port. It does not name companies.

Step-by-step:

1. Register for a free account at usatrade.census.gov.

2. Choose "Imports" or "Exports."

3. Filter by HS code (down to 10-digit HTS), country, and port of unlading.

4. Pull a time series of values, quantities, and unit prices.

What you get:

Aggregate monthly statistics: total US imports of HTS 8541.43.0010 from Vietnam in March 2026 = $X million across Y kg.

Pros: Free, official, well-organized, great for time-series and market-sizing.

Cons: No company names, no shipment-level detail. Useful for "how big is the market," useless for "who are the buyers."

Use it when: Sizing a market opportunity before deciding to invest in deeper research; tracking macro shifts (e.g., did US imports of solar panels from Vietnam jump after Section 301 tariffs on China?); preparing analyst reports.

Method 3: Free Aggregators (ImportYeti, Volza, ImportGenius Free Tier)

A handful of platforms ingest CBP FOIA data, do basic entity normalization, and offer free tiers with limited results. The biggest are ImportYeti, Volza, and the free preview tier of ImportGenius.

Step-by-step (ImportYeti as example):

1. Visit importyeti.com.

2. Type a company name or product description.

3. Browse the top-N results visible in the free tier (usually 5–25 records).

4. Optionally: register to access a few more records before the paywall.

What you get:

Searchable US ocean import shipments, with normalized company names, sortable by frequency, with shipment counts and partner relationships.

Pros: Fast, no setup, decent normalization, good for spot checks.

Cons: Limited results in free tier (typically caps at 5–25 per query); ocean data only; no air, no de minimis, no other countries; no house BOL enrichment so forwarder consignees are common; data is typically 30–60 days old.

Use it when: You want to look up a specific company's recent shipments; you're exploring whether US import data is useful for your business before committing to a paid tier; you're verifying claims a competitor is making about their volume.

Method 4: Paid Trade Intelligence Platforms

For systematic work, paid platforms add three things free tiers can't: full data access without per-query caps, multi-country coverage, and enrichment (house BOL linkage, sanctions cross-check, contact insights).The leaders by market share in 2026:

Platform	Country coverage	Strengths	Pricing tier
ImportGenius	US + ~10 countries	Long-established US dataset, simple search	$$
Panjiva (S&P Global)	25+ countries	Deep US + LatAm, parent-company linking, financial integration	$$$
yTrade	200+ countries via mirror data	Multi-country research, sanctions check, contact insights	$$
Descartes Datamyne	50+ countries	Historical depth, custom analytics	$$$

Step-by-step (yTrade as example):

1. Sign in at ytrade.com.

2. Search by HS code, company name, country, port, or product description.

3. Filter results by date range, shipment frequency, container size, port pair.

4. Pull the entity profile of any importer/exporter to see full shipment history, related companies, and contact data.

5. Cross-check against global sanctions and denied-party lists before outreach.

What you get:

Full searchable US import data with house BOL enrichment, plus access to data for 200+ other countries (directly where published, via mirror data where not), entity normalization across master/house BOLs, contact insights, sanctions screening, and an API for programmatic access.

Pros: Hours of work compressed to minutes; data you can't get from CBP FOIA alone (house BOLs, mirror data on China); production-ready for sales workflows.

Cons: Costs money. Plans typically run $50–$500/month for individuals and small teams.

Use it when: You're doing trade research weekly or daily; you need cross-country coverage (because your buyers and suppliers are everywhere); you're running compliance alongside discovery; you need the data inside an API or CRM.

Use yTrade to pull U.S. import shipment records by HS code, port, importer, exporter, and arrival date with unlimited search on every yTrade tier.

Side-by-Side: Same Query, Four Methods

To make the differences concrete, here's the same query — Find US importers of Vietnamese solar panels (HS 8541) in 2025 — run through all four methods.

Method	Time required	Companies named	Shipment count	Notes
CBP FOIA	4–6 weeks + ETL	Theoretically all	Theoretically complete	Raw data; you build the search yourself
USA Trade Online	5 minutes	0 (aggregates only)	$1.8 billion total value	Statistics only; no names
ImportYeti free	2 minutes	~50 (top results)	~1,000 (capped)	Top accounts, hits paywall fast
yTrade / paid	2 minutes	200+ (full coverage)	8,500+ (full)	House BOLs linked, contacts, sanctions check

The same question answered four ways: a single number ($1.8B), a glimpse (50 companies), and the full picture (200+ companies with shipment counts, ports, contacts, and compliance status).

The right method depends on what question you're actually answering.

Search every U.S. importer trading under a specific HS code through yTrade's customs-direct trade data covering 200+ countries.

Common Mistakes When Pulling U.S. Import Data

• Confusing AMS data with all US imports. Public AMS data covers ocean freight only — your e-commerce flows through DHL or FedEx air parcels are invisible.

• Treating "we found 50 importers on a free tool" as the full market. Free tiers are capped; the actual count is typically 5–10x higher.

• Forgetting Section 321 de minimis. A China-to-US e-commerce business with $200 million in annual sales may show zero records in AMS data because every parcel is under the $800 threshold.

• Searching with short company names. "Apple" returns thousands of false positives. Use the legal entity name and mailing address to filter.

• Trusting old data. AMS data has a 4–6 week lag from CBP FOIA, ~30 days through paid platforms with direct ingestion. A "recent" search at the wrong tool may be three months stale.

• Skipping the sanctions cross-check. Once you have an importer list, run it against the OFAC SDN List and the BIS Entity List before outreach. Contacting a sanctioned party — even unintentionally — creates regulatory exposure.

Verify U.S. importers and exporters through yTrade's entity and contact insights with verified decision-maker contacts included in the subscription.

Decision Tree: Which Method Fits Your Use Case

• One-off question, "is X importing Y?" → ImportYeti free tier.

• Market sizing, "how big are US solar panel imports?" → USA Trade Online.

• Building a sales prospect list of 200+ buyers → Paid platform with house BOL linkage and contacts.

• Compliance review of a counterparty → Paid platform with integrated sanctions screening.

• Custom data pipeline for an internal product → CBP FOIA bulk download + your own ETL.

• Cross-country research (US + India + Vietnam + Mexico) → Paid platform with multi-country coverage.

Use yTrade To Turn U.S. Customs Data Into Deals

yTrade pulls every U.S. import shipment into one platform alongside customs records from 200+ countries — 70% of world trade, 1,000+ leading companies already on board.

• Search every U.S. import by HS code, port, importer, exporter, container, and date — unlimited, no caps

• Find buyers actively importing your product ranked by volume and frequency, ready for outreach

• Verify counterparties instantly through trade history, corporate links, and built-in sanctions screening

• Reach decision-makers with verified contacts included, not charged per contact

• Start at $99/month — monthly billing, no procurement, no enterprise lock-in

Access yTrade trade data platform now!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is US import data public?

Mostly yes for ocean freight. CBP releases bill-of-lading data filed under the Automated Manifest System through FOIA, and the Census Bureau publishes aggregate statistics through USA Trade Online. Air freight, postal parcels, Section 321 de minimis shipments, and ACE customs declaration data are not public.

How do I find a specific US importer?

Search any of three free tools: ImportYeti, Volza, or the free preview at ImportGenius. Type the company name and you'll see their recent ocean import shipments, with shipper, HS code, port pair, and shipment count. For paywalled access to full history and contacts, paid platforms like yTrade, Panjiva, or ImportGenius give complete coverage.

How recent is US import data?

CBP FOIA data lags 4–6 weeks behind actual vessel arrival. Premium platforms with direct ingestion pipelines compress this to roughly 10 days for ocean freight. The 24-hour advance manifest rule means data exists before the vessel arrives, but CBP doesn't release it publicly until weeks after the actual entry.

Can I see what a competitor imports?

Yes, if they import by ocean freight and are named directly on the master BOL (not via a freight forwarder). Search their company name on any US import data tool. If the consignee on their shipments is a forwarder (e.g., Expeditors, Kuehne+Nagel), look at the notify party field, marks & numbers, or use a paid platform with house BOL enrichment to surface the real buyer.

Why don't I see any imports for my e-commerce competitor?

Because most cross-border e-commerce parcels enter under Section 321 de minimis — under-$800 shipments that bypass formal customs entry. CBP processes roughly 3 million de minimis parcels per day in 2025, none of which appear in AMS BOL data. Direct-to-consumer imports from China, Vietnam, and Indonesia are largely invisible in public US import data for this reason.

Does US import data show how much duty was paid?

No. Duty paid lives in CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) declaration system, which is not public. BOL data shows the commercial value declared by the carrier, which is similar but not identical to the dutiable value. For duty research, you need the HTS schedule and the relevant trade-remedy orders.

Can foreign nationals access US import data?

Yes. There's no citizenship restriction on FOIA requests for AMS data, and aggregator platforms serve global customers freely. Many of the heaviest users of US import data are exporters in India, Vietnam, China, and Mexico looking for US buyers.