The June edition of the Global Shipping Report issued by Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, pointed to a decline in United States-bound container import volumes, coming off several months of growth.
This the 46th edition of the Global Shipping Report, going back to its debut in August 2021.
May U.S.-bound container import volume—at 2,177,453 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—was off 9.7% compared to April and down 7.2% annually.
“After several months of import growth and following a wave of frontloading of shipments in April, the impact of new tariffs began to materialize in May,” said Jackson Wood, at Descartes. “The effects of U.S. policy shifts with China are also now clearly visible in monthly trade flows. While the 90-day agreement between the two countries to lower tariffs may bring U.S. importers some short-term relief, China-origin imports may continue to soften in the months ahead as organizations continue to reassess sourcing strategies amid rising landed costs, and as changes to the U.S. de minimis regulation for low-value Chinese imports continues to add cost pressures to trade.”
While May is typically a growth month sequentially, May 2025 is the first year in the last seven to see a sequential decrease, save for 2020. But May 2025 topped pre-pandemic May 2019 by 4.3%, with Descartes observing that, “overall demand remains elevated versus pre-pandemic norms.”
“Despite strong early-year performance, the May decline marks the first significant contraction reflecting the impact of tariff volatility and growing trade pressures,” said Descartes. “For the first five months of the year, total imports are up 5.3% compared to the same period in 2024, though the gap has narrowed.”
U.S.-bound imports from China fell 20.8%, or 804,122 TEU, sequentially, representing the steepest monthly decline going back to March 2020, and down 28.5% annually (total Chinese exports to the U.S. fell 34.5% annually, its steepest decline since the early 2020). And China’s share of total U.S. containerized imports decreased to 29.3% for the month, marking its lowest level in more than two years, with the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles seeing the largest declines, at 31.6% and 29.9%, respectively.
Other key findings in the report included:
- Container volumes at the top 10 U.S. ports fell 10.7% annually, or 217,112 TEU, with the Port of Los Angeles (-18.4%) and the Port of Long Beach (-22.4%) seeing the largest declines, with the pair accounting for more than 170,000 fewer TEU. Ports that saw growth included Charleston (up 6.0%) and Baltimore (up 2.6%), which Descartes said reflected more resilient regional demand and/or rerouted shipments;
- U.S. container import volume from the top 10 countries of origin (CoO) fell 11.4%, or 192,313 TEU, from April to May, with China seeing a 20.8%, or more than 167,000 TEU decline on the heels of the implementation of steep U.S. tariffs, with Italy (-23.1%), Hong Kong (-14.4%), and Thailand (-11.8%) also with declines on the higher end. As for gains, India was up 5.7% and South Korea and Vietnam were up 4.9% and 2.3%, respectively, with Descartes noting that potentially suggests early signs of trade volume shifting away from China; and
- East and Gulf Coast ports’ share of U.S. containerized imports came in at 44.5%, for a 3.1% increase from April to May, while West Coast ports came in at 38.1%, down 4.4%, with Descartes saying this shift may be due to a decline in Chinese import volumes following import frontloading in April that it said had a disproportionate impact on West Coast gateways, due to their geographic proximity and established Transpacific routes
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