United States retailers are continuing to front-load imports, ramping up container volumes through the country’s major ports.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), fears about potential tariffs being implemented under the incoming Trump administration are fuelling the front-loading that initially started in October 2024 due to fears of an East Coast Port strike, which has since been averted.
The NRF’s Global Port Tracker showed that container imports rose 14.7% in November 2024 compared with November 2023.
Ben Hackett, founder of analytics and research firm Hackett Associates, said while the strike had been averted, the impact of the uncertainty was still being felt.
“We have narrowly averted a strike, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been an impact. Importers had already front-loaded cargo in anticipation of delays, giving a boost to imports in December and early January.”
According to the latest data, volumes for November are approximately 14% higher than the NRF had forecast for the month. Without finalised numbers from the Port of New York New Jersey, the TEU volume was 2.17 million containers in November.
December data has not yet been finalised, however the NRF has forecast that volumes will be 19% more than its forecast, with a projection of 2.24 million TEU for the month.
NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy, Jonathan Gold, said the eleventh hour signing of an agreement by the International Longshoremen’s Association and the US Maritime Alliance had come after retailers were already bringing in spring merchandise early to ensure that they would be well stocked in case of another disruption.
“The surge in imports has also been driven by President-elect Trump’s plan to increase tariffs because retailers want to avoid higher costs that will eventually be paid by consumers. The long-term impact on imports remains to be seen,” he said.
The NRF increased its forecast for 2024, saying the recent surge in imports would lead to total volumes of 25.6 million TEU for the year.
