Recent developments in US consumer spending reveal a clear cooling in demand for goods, with growth easing steadily through 2025.

According to Sea-Intelligence, data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that overall spending on goods reached its strongest point in early 2025, before declining significantly by November.

This shift raises questions about how different categories of consumer products are contributing to the slowdown.

A comparison of durable and non‑durable goods shows a distinct divergence towards the end of 2025. Durable goods experience a marked decline, while non‑durables record a modest improvement.

This split highlights varying momentum across categories, prompting a closer examination of specific consumer sectors.

Within durable goods, furnishings and household equipment show one of the sharpest reversals, moving from slowing growth to outright contraction from September 2025.

A detailed breakdown reveals that furniture, which is important for containerised trade, moves into negative territory. Tools and equipment for house and garden record an even steeper decline.

Recreational goods and vehicles stand out as comparatively resilient.

Earlier dips in growth can be traced to weaker demand for information processing equipment and for video, audio and photographic equipment and media. More recently, photographic equipment, as well as sports and recreational vehicles, hover around zero growth.

Turning to non‑durable goods, spending on food and beverages for off‑premise consumption drops from its early‑year peak before stabilising at a lower level by November.

Some categories within non‑durables remain strong, including food and products consumed on farms, although these represent a small share of total spending. Alcohol purchases for off‑premise use decline rapidly, which contrasts with spending patterns often observed during periods of economic pressure.

Clothing and footwear show a consistent upward trajectory, supported across most major segments.

The exception is children’s and infant clothing, where growth softens sharply over the past six months. Another non‑durable grouping, classified by the BEA as other non‑durables, maintains steady performance until late summer before dropping notably in September.

US trade levels signal a similar shift

Separate trade‑flow data from Los Angeles indicates weakness in outbound volumes.

According to Executive Director Gene Seroka, exports through the port fell to their lowest level in almost three years. Imports were down by 13%, despite this typically being a strong pre–Lunar New Year shipping period.

Seroka notes that “Exports to China look dismal,” adding that tariff actions and retaliatory measures have had a pronounced effect on US exporters, including farmers.

CNBC reports that US containerised exports to China were down 26% last year, and China's pledged purchases for US agricultural goods have not yet materialised.

Imported goods from China during the month of January ranged from furniture and bedding (16.4%), plastics (5.4%), machinery (18.3%), apparel and footwear (6.5%) and toys/sporting goods (5.8%).

The statistics show that the Port of LA’s China import dependence has dropped from 60% (2018) to 40% today.

While not fully replacing imports from China, the decline was somewhat offset by import growth from Southeast Asia, says CNBC.

Imports from Vietnam grew by 17.8%, from Thailand by 36.5% and from Indonesia by 18%.