The global recession began to hammer waterborne commerce during the second half of 2008, according to the latest containerized import-export statistics from PIERS Trade Horizons. The just-released numbers dash any lingering hopes that demand from emergent economies for U.S. exports would provide a silver lining in an otherwise darkening outlook. PIERS Trade Horizons reports that U.S. imports, which had been declining since the start of 2008, plunged 10.5% in the last quarter to end the year down 7.9% from 2007. PIERS Trade Horizons had forecast a drop of 7.6%. U.S. exports, which had continued to grow in the first three quarters of 2008, albeit at a slowing pace (20.8% in first quarter, 13.5% in the second and 9.0% in the third), went into sharp reverse, falling 16.9%.