US imports (Census)
Monthly US imports of computing hardware from the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division since 2015: the customs value of processing units (HS 8471.50) from the world and from Taiwan, the number of units, computer parts (HS 8473.30), integrated circuits and all US goods imports as controls, and derived series for the share of all US goods imports and the average value of one unit.
These charts count dollars, not machines. Most of the growth is price: one unit costs far more than it did in 2023. ⚠ The rise starts in 2024, not with ChatGPT.
AI hardware imports
The customs value of goods that entered the United States. These codes cover all servers and computer parts, not only AI hardware.
Processing units (HS 8471.50)
Processing units from Taiwan
Computer parts (HS 8473.30)
Processing units imported
Controls
Each chart here is a control. Read them beside the AI hardware charts to see what ordinary import growth looks like.
Integrated circuits (control)
All US goods imports (control)
Derived
Figures
| Series | Latest | Change | Min | Max | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processing units (HS 8471.50) | 30.3B | +73.6% yr | 1.1B | 33.6B | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| Processing units from Taiwan | 7.9B | −7.5% yr | 12.8M | 11.9B | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| Computer parts (HS 8473.30) | 17.9B | +205.2% yr | 1.1B | 20.1B | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| Integrated circuits (control) | 5.5B | +82.8% yr | 2.0B | 5.5B | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| All US goods imports (control) | 336B | +28.0% yr | 163B | 342B | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| Processing units imported | 1.7M | −20.1% yr | 1.1M | 5.4M | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| Share of all US goods imports | 9.0% | +35.7% yr | 0.64% | 10.1% | Jan 2015 — Aug 2026 |
| Average value per processing unit | 11.3k | +145.0% yr | 1.1k | 11.3k | Dec 2015 — Aug 2026 |