Do you need a paid customs-data subscription for product research? Where is free official trade data?
Answer
Not necessarily. To see whether trade in a product is rising or falling and which countries buy most, start with official public statistics: China Customs' online statistics platform for China; the US Census Bureau's USA Trade Online: Reimagined for the US (the legacy platform was decommissioned on June 30, 2026); and UN Comtrade to compare countries (it has free and Premium tiers). These are aggregated trend data, not buyer lists; check free access, download and API limits separately. Paid products may sell shipment records, or only cleaning, analysis or extra quota, so ask what level of data and which source first.
- Applies to
- Exporters and factories researching products and markets; overseas buyers tracking imports from China in a category.
Free official data
| Data | Tool | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| China imports and exports | China Customs statistics online | Value and quantity by product code, partner and month |
| US imports and exports | USA Trade Online: Reimagined | New version of the Census Bureau data tool; legacy platform retired 2026-06-30 (Census notice) |
| Many countries | UN Comtrade | UN-collected trade data reported by countries, good for comparisons; free and Premium tiers |
| Our summary | Category trends (in Chinese) | Selected Chinese export and US-from-China import categories, updated as official data is released |
What you can do yourself
- Find your product's HS code (first 6 digits are international); see US HTS lookup.
- On the China Customs platform, check the last 12 months of exports for that code: trend and main destinations. When comparing 6-digit codes across countries, use the same HS version; the US HTS helps but does not replace Chinese export classification.
- In the target country's data (such as USA Trade Online), check its imports of that product from China.
- Note the basis: currency, month, cumulative or not; use year-on-year for trend, single months for swings. Rising value is not rising volume; check quantity and unit price too.
- Write your conclusion as a hypothesis, then test it with samples and a small order.
When to use a licensed professional
- Usually not needed. For big investment decisions, a research firm can do a dedicated report.
Check before you pay, and warning signs
- Before buying a database, ask: which countries' data, shipment-level or not, update frequency, export options, contract term and refunds.
- Shipment records are public in some countries and not in others; ask exactly where "buyer lists for every country" come from.
- Mass-emailing a bought list may breach the destination's marketing and privacy rules.
Unknowns
- Release timing differs by source; China Customs monthly data usually comes out the following month, as shown on the platform.
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