Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China

Tariffs are up. Tariffs are down. Shipping is frozen. Shipping is back on.

In the past several weeks, Chinese imports to the U.S. have been on a seesaw, leaving Americans uncertain how tariffs will affect their lives.

It’s impossible to say what tariffs will do to the price or availability of any particular item, although even the Trump administration’s current level of 30 percent tariffs — on top of previous levies — will certainly make many things more expensive.

But thanks to detailed trade data, we know what Americans buy from China, and how much of it, and thus what might be most sensitive to future swings in trade status.

Here are several ways of understanding what’s on those container ships, based on 2024 data from the U.S. International Trade Commission.

First, the products where the greatest share of our imports are Chinese imports:

This list is the simplest way to think about which Chinese goods the U.S. relies on most. But percentages aren’t everything. Americans buy so much from China that even goods with smaller imported shares from there could still be significantly affected by tariffs.

This list skews slightly toward more expensive goods that the average American purchases infrequently, particularly electronics. But the International Trade Commission also tracks how many of each good the U.S. imports.

In that list, you can see Americans’ well-documented reliance on China for plastic products.

Many of America’s major imports from China are consumer goods: things you buy for yourself, like clothes, housewares or entertainment. Drill down into those categories and specific products stand out.

For example, American wardrobes are somewhat dependent on China: about a fifth of U.S. clothing imports. But a majority of neckties and gloves and pantyhose are imported from China.

The U.S. is more reliant on China for things made with polyester and nylon (like pantyhose) than for those made with cotton.

Athletes, especially racket-sport players, are also dependent on China:

There are also consumer-goods categories whose “Made in China” status may not be as well known. For example, the U.S. gets a lot of its imported string instruments — such as violins and cellos — from China.

The Japanese company Yamaha manufactures some of its instruments in China, including trumpets and drums.

The U.S. also relies on China for many of its vitamins …

… and eels. (China has a robust eel farming industry.)

Then there are the goods that the U.S. imports primarily to put inside other things, like car parts.

The U.S. relies heavily on Chinese imports to build electric vehicles in particular: Some 70 percent of its imported lithium-ion batteries are from China.

Even batteries made in the U.S. often rely on raw materials from China, particularly graphite. (China tightened its export controls on graphite at the end of last year, so this year’s numbers could end up looking very different.)

Mr. Trump’s newest tariffs are not the only levies imposed on Chinese goods, and there’s a complicated interplay of which tariffs apply to which products. Some goods that a lot of Americans buy received exemptions from the latest tariffs (though perhaps not future ones), including one item the U.S. imports almost exclusively from China: children’s books.

That’s a window into what Americans buy from China. But for some imports, the U.S. doesn’t rely on China. It’s a list that includes large vehicles, precious metals and tomatoes, all of which America imports largely from other countries.

It’s also worth noting what America exports to China. Though the U.S. sends fewer goods to China than it receives, these could still be affected in a trade war. (China has been instituting its own exemptions, which are broader than those of the U.S.)

To let you take a closer look at what America does and doesn’t import from China, we’ve included a searchable list below of all goods for which the U.S. imported at least $20 million (from any country) in 2024, excluding America’s major exports.