News
Import volumes at major U.S. container ports are expected to remain below last year’s levels into early fall despite skewed year-over-year bumps in May and June, according to a Global Port Tracker (GPT) report released recently by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates (HA).
“The numbers show a year-over-year increase for the next two months, but that’s only because of the sharp fall-off in imports after ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were announced in April 2025,” said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold.
The U.S. ports covered by GPT handled 2.16 million TEUs of containers in March, up 0.6% year over year and up 13.6% month over month, when many Asian factories were closed for Lunar New Year celebrations, and bad weather delayed the arrival of cargo at some U.S. ports.
Ports have not yet reported April numbers, but GPT projects the month at 2.13 million TEUs, down 3.6% year over year. May is forecast at 2.17 million TEUs, up 11.1%; June at 2.13 million TEUs, up 8.2%; July at 2.2 million TEUs, down 7.8%; August at 2.19 million TEUs, down 5.5%, and September at 2.08 million TEUs, down 1.3%.
