The aggregate RI is still negative, but the category-level data tells a more positive story. The two giants — computers & electronics ($453B imports, 44% of LCC total) and apparel & accessories ($88B) — kept dragging the index down (imports +29% vs domestic output +2.8%). But categories that turned positive include textiles, furniture & fixtures, electrical equipment & appliances, miscellaneous manufactured goods — together ~$400B (40%) of LCC imports. Food / beverage / tobacco, electrical, and fabricated metals each added $30B+ in domestic output.
Capacity utilization dropped from 77.6% → 75.4% (2022–2025), ISM PMI closed Dec 2025 at 47.9 (year-low). Three drags: (1) 48% of announced capex is going to equipment upgrades, not new capacity; (2) the biggest projects (semis, pharma, EV/battery) take years to come online — and ~50% of clean-tech plants originally scheduled for 2025 are now delayed or cancelled; (3) tariff swings + DOE funding uncertainty are pushing more project cancellations. SSI fell to 2.30, a 10-year low — the U.S. is more import-dependent, not less, despite record tariffs.
China-direct is shrinking, but the "China+1" trade is exploding (+$194B from other Asian LCCs, +$47B from Mexico). For Chinese factories, the U.S. door isn't closing — it's shifting through Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Mexico. Cube-Age's Houston hub sits exactly on this redirected flow: USMCA-compliant routes from Mexico, gulf-coast ports for SE Asia containers, and a U.S.-side IOR / warehouse / repack operation that lets factories serve U.S. discount chains and distributors regardless of origin label.