Tariff effects
Measure how tariff changes shift volumes and market share, and which firms switch suppliers after a policy change.
Academic research
Customs trade data for academic research
CargoFax gives universities shipment-level customs import and export records for teaching and academic research.
One department-level license supports multiple professors and their students, with no seat limit. Research teams receive the data as files by FTP, through a web interface, or by API, and classes work in Atlas, the CargoFax web platform, from any browser. Students and faculty analyze real-world trade activity in research papers, theses, coursework, and student projects, with US records updated daily.
Last updated:
Datasets
Which datasets are in the research license?
The CargoFax research license covers all eight markets in 14 import and export datasets. The records are shipment-level customs declaration lines and bills of lading.
- Breadth and history. Each market comes with its full standard archive, and Colombia reaches back to 2001. If your research design needs an earlier period, CargoFax can discuss additional historical coverage for that market.
- Kept current. New files arrive at each market's update frequency for as long as the license is active.
- New datasets included. New datasets added during an active license are included at no additional cost.
Researchers can request the Academic Data Brochure for exact record counts, coverage dates, update frequencies, and market-specific details.
One row, one transaction
What does a record contain?
CargoFax data helps researchers connect companies, products, and trade activity. Depending on the market and dataset, CargoFax records can include shipment or customs declaration details, trading parties, product descriptions, HS codes, quantities, weights, values, ports, and dates.
These fields support research into trade flows, company relationships, commodity markets, and changes in international commerce. Detailed field definitions, identifiers, and worked examples are available in the dataset documentation.
The Academic Data Brochure shows what one record contains in each market.
Research uses
What can the data be used for?
Nearshoring and sourcing shifts
Track when firms move sourcing toward regional suppliers.
Supply chain restructuring
Observe buyer-supplier relationships forming, persisting, and dissolving.
Disruption and resilience
Use daily US import records and weekly Haiti bills of lading to study responses to port closures and other shocks.
Supplier concentration
Measure dependence on single suppliers, countries, and lanes.
Machine learning
Detect anomalies and emerging relationships across millions of transactions.
Teaching
Give students real records for sourcing, market analysis, and case studies.
CargoFax data has been used in publications and studies at universities in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
Delivery
How does the data reach you?
Research files (FTP)
The complete archive on a dedicated endpoint, organized by market, year, and month, with daily and monthly files plus a monthly rollup per market. CSV, Excel, JSON, or Parquet. No query limits, export caps, or per-user seats. Schema documentation, methodology notes, an onboarding session, and email support throughout. Haiti bulk files are available on request.
About FilesAPI
The same coverage and fields as the files, queried programmatically. Suited to reproducible pipelines and automated refresh. Available alongside FTP delivery.
Classroom access
Browser access to the CargoFax platform for a course, for a full semester or a shorter period, covering every enrolled student: shipment maps, importer and exporter lookup, HS and trade-lane filters, and port-level analysis. Licensed separately. Pricing on request.
About AtlasCredibility
Data you can trust
CargoFax data and insights have been used by universities, referenced in academic publications, cited by established news organizations, and referenced by AI-powered research tools.
Universities
Used for teaching, research, and trade analysis at universities in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
Academic research
CargoFax data has been used in academic publications and studies.
Media coverage
CargoFax data has been cited by the Financial Times and the BBC.
AI research tools
CargoFax data and insights have been referenced in Perplexity answers.
Citations and references are independent; they are not endorsements.
License
Who may use the data, and for what?
Faculty, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral candidates, research assistants, and enrolled students in the licensed unit, with no cap on the number of people. Permitted purposes:
- academic research intended for publication,
- doctoral and master's theses,
- classroom teaching and coursework,
- and grant-funded research whose output is a public academic deliverable.
Other departments or external co-authors can be added by written agreement.
Terms
What are the restrictions?
- Academic, non-commercial use only. Consulting or sponsored work where the sponsor receives the output is outside the license.
- Files stay on institutionally controlled systems, not personal devices.
- No redistribution, resale, or republication of the underlying records.
- The institution names an administrator to manage access.
- After the license ends, outputs, derived datasets, and publications may be kept, provided they do not contain the underlying records in whole or in substantial part.
Methodology
Data Methodology & Documentation
CargoFax documents how every dataset is built, so researchers can interpret the records accurately and describe them precisely in published work.
Declared values.
Customs records carry the value declared on each line, and US trade values come from official US Census Bureau statistics.
Party information.
Records name the trading companies, cleaned and matched across spellings, with the original filed text kept for reference.
HS classification.
Every record carries an HS code, comparable across markets at six digits, with national tariff detail where it is declared.
Record structure.
Bills of lading and customs declaration lines are documented market by market, so you can choose the right unit of analysis.
Country of origin.
Origin, provenance, and country of lading fields are defined for each market, so trade flows can be attributed correctly.
All the details are in our brochure.
Field definitions, market-by-market methodology, coverage dates, and fill rates computed on the full dataset.
FAQ
Academic licenses: frequently asked questions
Can I use the data in published research?
Yes. The license covers academic research intended for publication, doctoral and master's theses, classroom teaching, and grant-funded research where the output is a public academic deliverable. Name CargoFax as the data source.
How do we get started?
Book a call and share your research questions. CargoFax walks through the datasets and fields that fit your research design and sends the license terms.
What formats do you deliver?
CSV, Excel, JSON, or Parquet over a dedicated FTP endpoint, or the same records through an API.
Which markets are included in the academic offer?
All eight CargoFax markets, as 14 datasets: the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Argentina, and Haiti. Haiti bulk files are available on request. Datasets CargoFax adds during your license term are included at no extra cost.
How far back does the data go?
Colombia from January 2001, Uruguay from January 2016, Argentina from 2017, US exports from January 2020, Haiti from November 2020, US imports from January 2022, Mexico from January 2023, the Dominican Republic from January 2024, and Peru from January 2026. Earlier records can often be sourced, case by case.
Is this the same as the Atlas platform?
No. The research license delivers the data itself so you can work with it in your own environment. Browser access to the platform for a class is a separate classroom license.
How much does it cost?
Licenses are priced per department. Book a call and CargoFax will send terms.
Get started
Power your research with CargoFax trade data.
Real customs records for coursework, theses, and published research, with access that fits your department.