Kids are going back to school. Sort of, anyway. As you know, the typical school day has changed dramatically for most U.S. students amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, parents have become teaching and lab assistants, leading lessons, and creating science projects in their kitchens and living rooms. As virtual learning becomes more rule than the exception, laptops and tablets are even more of a necessity. And they’re not the only items on back-to-school shopping lists these days. In addition to pencils, pens and paper, lists now include hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, gloves and masks. 

This year’s crop of aspiring future doctors, lawyers and architects will first need to conquer their ABCs and algebra. Whether learning at home or, in some cases, schools, students will still need the usual and not-so-usual supplies, including those designed to reduce their risk of contracting and/or spreading COVID-19.

Just how many of these items do they need? Here’s a snapshot of the difference in the number of laptop/tablet, sanitizer/disinfectant, and mask imports during the same period this year and in previous years.

Let’s start with a look at the growth in laptop/tablets. Imports of laptops classified under the Schedule B subheading 8471.30, “Portable automatic data processing machines” totaled $4.2 billion last October. For the year, imports of laptops totaled $40.3 billion, with China accounting for 92.6% of the total import, followed by Taiwan with 3.5%, and Vietnam at 2.5% to round out the top three countries for imports. 

There’s been a significant jump in imports of hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes and disinfectant sprays. These items, classified under 3402.20, organic surface-active agents (other than soap), surface-active preparations, washing preparations (including auxiliary washing preparations), and cleaning preparations put up for retail sale, have resulted in $2.4 billion in imports during the last five years. In 2019, the top three countries of export were Mexico, Canada and China respectively.

Back to school also sometimes means a new outfit for the first day, which these days must include a protective face mask.  

Imports of protective masks, classified under 6307.90 other made-up textile articles, have more than doubled in the first half of this year.

For more info on Schedule B numbers, please read our blog, Finding Your Schedule B Number. For detailed stats on U.S. imports and exports, check out USA Trade Online for detailed statistics or contact the Macro Analysis Branch at 1-800-549-0595, Option #4. Statistics on USA Trade Online are not seasonally adjusted.