U.S. Container Import Volumes Rebound in February

Major retail ports in the United States handled 1.69 million TEUs of containerized imports in February 2018, an increase of 15.8 percent compared with the same month a year ago, according to the latest monthly Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

On a sequential basis, U.S. container imports slipped 4.1 percent from January, according to the report, as a result of annual Asian factory shutdowns for Lunar New Year.

The NRF warned, however, that a potential trade war with China could put a major damper on cargo growth at U.S. ports, many of which reported record volumes in 2017.

The Trump administration and China’s Ministry of Commerce last week began a tit-for-tat tariff battle that puts several high-profile U.S. industries like retail and agriculture in the crosshairs.

On Monday, China imposed higher tariffs for 128 U.S. export products in response to U.S. import tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Then on Tuesday, the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) announced it would impose tariffs on approximately $50 billion worth of Chinese imports and take other actions “in response to China’s policies that coerce American companies into transferring their technology and intellectual property to domestic Chinese enterprises,” prompting China’s Ministry of Commerce to retaliate with a proposal to impose 25 percent tariffs on 106 items imported from the U.S. worth about $50 billion in 2017 on Wednesday.

“Tariffs are a tax on American consumers in the form of higher prices but they are also a tax on American jobs,” Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at the NRF, said in a statement. “If tariffs ultimately lead to a reduction in imports and exports, that will put dockworkers and countless others in the supply chain out of work. American consumers and workers should not be punished for China’s wrongdoing.”

“There is nothing good about a trade war,” added Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett. “It is a vicious circle of retaliation where there are no winners, only losers.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of this year, the Global Port Tracker report forecasts the following import figures for each month for ports covered compared to the same month in 2017:

• March at 1.54 million TEUs, down 1.2 percent;

• April at 1.72 million TEUs, up 5.8 percent;

• May at 1.82 million TEUs, up 4.1 percent;

• June at 1.83 million TEUs, up 6.5 percent;

• July at 1.88 million TEUs, up 4.5 percent;

• And August at 1.9 million TEUs, up 3.9 percent.

Should those projections hold true, combined first-half volumes would reach a total of 10.4 million TEUs, an increase of 5.6 percent over the first half of 2017, but NRF noted these figures could change depending on the outcome of Trump’s tariffs and any retaliatory measures by China or other major trading partners.

For the full year in 2017, import volumes at major U.S. retail ports surged 7.6 percent to a record 20.5 million TEUs compared with the previous year.