News
Imports to U.S. major container ports are expected to surge through this summer as retailers take advantage of a 90-day reduction in tariffs that were recently imposed on China, according to a Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released recently by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 2.21 million TEUs of containers in April, up 2.9% from March and up 9.6% year over year.
The ports have not yet reported numbers for May-when the April tariffs began to have an impact-but GPT projects the month at 1.91 million TEUs, down 13.4% from April and down 8.1% year over year. That would be the first year-over-year decline since September 2023 and the lowest volume since 1.87 million TEUs in December 2023.
With some tariffs now on pause, imports are expected to bounce back in June, although numbers will remain lower than last year. June is forecast at 2.01 million TEUs, down 6.2% year over year; July at 2.13 million TEUs, down 8.1% and August at 1.98 million TEUs, down 14.7%. Volume is then expected to drop sharply for the remainder of 2025, with large year-over-year declines seen partly because imports in late 2024 were elevated due to concerns about East Coast and Gulf Coast port strikes. September is forecast at 1.78 million TEUs, down 21.8% and October at 1.8 million TEUs, down 19.8%.
The current forecast would bring the first half of 2025 to 12.54 million TEUs, up 3.7% year over year. That's better than the 12.13 million TEUs forecast last month before the tariff pause was announced, but still below the 12.78 million TEUs, up 5.7% year over year, forecast before the April tariffs announcement.
