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Write down what the extract measures
Record the source, download date, product classification, period, countries and units. Start with the product description: a broad category can include equipment your business cannot supply or service. A narrow code may exclude relevant substitutes.
Census distinguishes general imports from goods entering consumption channels. Its customs-value definition also differs from a customer’s complete landed or delivered cost. Keep those measures separate before comparing files or presenting a market figure.
Imports are a flow of goods, not the installed service base
Fictional example: a research file shows 1,000 machines in a broad imported category for one year. Management wants to multiply that number by an annual maintenance price. That calculation assumes the machines are relevant, remain in service, need your work and can be reached by the proposed team. None of those facts is established by the category total.
Your service market may include machines imported in earlier years, locally made equipment, warranties performed by someone else and sites you cannot economically cover. Investigate those questions rather than adding a percentage called “our market share”.
Keep a file another manager can reproduce
If units or classification have changed, a neat year-to-year chart may compare different things. Preserve the original file and definitions, not only a screenshot of the headline number.
| Record | What to check |
|---|---|
| Product code and description | Why the category includes the intended equipment and what it leaves out. |
| Period and unit | Whether the extract measures value, weight or a meaningful quantity, and over which dates. |
| Import measure | Which trade measure and valuation basis were selected. |
| Commercial bridge | Who owns or uses the relevant equipment and who authorises service purchases. |
| Missing evidence | Unknowns that need customer, distributor or installed-base research. |
Test the bridge from trade data to a customer
Ask management to identify a small, relevant buyer group and verify the actual equipment, current supplier, buying process and service problem. That evidence can make the import research useful without pretending the dataset supplied customer demand.
A classification chosen for research does not settle the customs duty on a future shipment. Keep the tariff-classification task separate from this market investigation.
Scope
- No actual U.S. import total, installed-base estimate, customer list, demand forecast or market share is supplied. The machine count is fictional. Research categories do not determine a shipment’s legal classification.
Next step
Use Market comparison to record what the import extract establishes and which customer questions remain. Keep the dated file, code and definitions beside the plan.
Sources & review notes
U.S. Census Bureau
Passage, dates and research notes
official-data-documentation · General imports, imports for consumption, classification and customs-value definitions
Read the selected definitions and their context. They describe goods statistics, not an addressable market, customer list or the correct legal classification of the reader’s product.
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