import
verb (used with object)
to bring in (merchandise, commodities, workers, etc.) from a foreign country for use, sale, processing, reexport, or services.
had been importing
-
past perfect progressiveof import.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Petersen said Flexport discovered that one of its new customers had been importing T-shirts with pictures of horses on them under the customs code for live horses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
In recent years, Pakistan had been importing wheat from Ukraine to meet the needs of the province, home to 18 percent of the country’s population.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2023
Thierry Breton, the E.U.’s internal market commissioner, said the bloc has found substitutes for roughly half of what it had been importing from Russia.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2022
The link can carry up to 2GW of power, and had been importing electricity from France in recent days, after UK prices hit a record high of £540 per MWh on the wholesale energy market.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2021
I felt nearly certain that Bob Power had been importing arms in the Finola.
From The Red Hand of Ulster by George A. Birmingham
