News
Following a near-record peak this summer, imports to U.S. major container ports are expected to steadily decline for the remainder of the year amid rising tariffs, according to the Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates (HA).
"We have seen the implementation of reciprocal tariffs across the globe, with a number of key trading partners being subjected to tariffs higher than the earlier 10% tariffs," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "Tariffs have had a significant impact on trade," HA Founder Ben Hackett said. "The trade outlook for the final months of the year is not optimistic."
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 2.36 million TEUs of containers in July, although numbers for New York/New Jersey, Port Everglades and Miami were estimated because they have not yet reported their data. It was up 20.1% from June as retailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariffs set to take effect in August, and up 1.8% year over year. It would be the second-busiest month on record, topped only by 2.4 million TEUs in May 2022.
Ports have not yet reported numbers for August, but GPT projects the month at 2.28 million TEUs, down 1.7% year over year, but higher than the 2.2 million TEUs expected before the postponement of China tariffs and the new tariff on India.
September is forecast at 2.12 million TEUs, down 6.8% year over year; October at 1.95 million TEUs, down 13.2%, and November at 1.74 million TEUs, down 19.7%. December is forecast at 1.7 million TEUs, down 20.1% year over year for the slowest month since 1.62 million TEUs in March 2023.
The first half of 2025 totaled 12.53 million TEUs, up 3.6% year over year. The full year is forecast at 24.7 million TEUs, down 3.4% from 25.5 million TEUs in 2024.
