The North America-Asia trade showed more resilience and performed better than the previous year as North America import were relatively more robust. In 2012, trade on the head-haul route from Asia to North America expanded by 7.4 percent while traffic in the opposite direction expanded by 5.2 percent. On transatlantic route, depressed European import demand caused a 6.9 percent contraction on the North America-Europe leg, while flows into North America increased by 5.9 percent, sustained by relatively stronger demand in the United states.