News
Amid continuing tariff turmoil, imports to U.S. major container ports are expected to remain elevated through this spring, but volume could see year-over-year drops this summer, according to a Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released recently by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates (HA).
The U.S. government has indicated it will impose reciprocal tariffs against China in April. The NRF is concerned that “American families will pay more as long as they are in place.” HA Founder Ben Hackett said imports from all trading partners could also be affected by a new fee between $1 million and $1.5 million for each time a Chinese-built ship docks at a U.S. port being considered by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). “Given that a significant portion of the global container fleet has been built in China, this means that there will be further costs that will be passed on to cargo owners and ultimately the consumer,” Hackett said. Carriers will likely make more use of larger vessels and consolidate calls at major ports rather than making multiple stops at smaller ports. “Ports accommodated the surge in import volume in the final quarter of 2024 without major issues, but this will place additional pressure on the supply chain while also harming the nation’s smaller ports.”
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 2.22 million TEUs of containers in January, up 4.4% from December and up 13.4% year over year.
The ports have not yet reported February’s numbers, but GPT projects the month at 2.07 million TEUs, up 6.1% year over year. That would be the busiest February—traditionally the slowest month of the year because of Lunar New Year factory shutdowns in China–in three years. March is forecast at 2.14 million TEUs, up 10.8% s; April at 2.13 million TEUs, up 5.7%; May at 2.14 million TEUs, up 2.8%; June at 2.07 million TEUs, down 3.2%, and July at 1.99 million TEUs, down 13.9%.
June and July’s year-over-year declines would be the first since September 2023, and July’s volume would be lowest since 1.93 million in March 2024. The first half of the year is expected to total 12.78 million TEU, up 5.7% from the same time last year.
