Container ports in the United States are seeing elevated cargo levels, according to the Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. The report comes amid rising uncertainty over tariffs in the U.S., where President Donald Trump’s rapidly evolving trade policy has shaken up the shipping industry and sent a chill through markets.
NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said that uncertainty around tariffs, particularly those on goods from China, is leading retailers to rush their imports into the country.
“Retailers are continuing to bring as much merchandise into the country ahead of rising tariffs as possible,” he said. “The on-again, off-again tariffs against Canada and Mexico won’t have a direct impact on port volumes because most of those goods move by truck or rail. But new tariffs on goods from China that have already doubled from 10 percent to 20 percent are a concern, as well as uncertainty over ‘reciprocal’ tariffs that could start in April. Retailers have been working on supply chain diversification, but that doesn’t happen overnight. In the meantime, tariffs are taxes on imports ultimately paid by consumers, not foreign countries, and American families will pay more as long as they are in place.”
The pain is already being felt by importers and exporters. Supreme Crab CEO Troy Turkin recently told SeafoodSource that “due to the 45 percent total tariff amount going into effect now, we will likely need to move a large portion of our buying away [from] China.”
Landy Chow, marketing manager for seafood import/export firm Siam Canadian, similarly told SeafoodSource that a 45 percent tariff was “simply too high.”
Adding to the confusion is the U.S. Trade Representative’s recent proposal that Chinese-built and operated ships be charged fees …
