St. Louis Fed, Report: How U.S. Import Shipping Costs Vary across Countries and Industries

“We conclude that there is significant heterogeneity in shipping costs across both countries and industries. These findings suggest that changes in international shipping costs following large shocks such as COVID-19 have likely had heterogeneous impacts across import sources and industries: The unprecedented surge of shipping costs has likely had a greater impact on imports from distant sources, as well as for imports of large, low-value goods. These are critical considerations when examining the impact of fluctuations in international shipping costs.”