The expectations of a tough month for container deliveries in April were heightened last week by reports of empty U.S. West Coast ports and estimates from the National Retail Federation (NRF) in its latest Port Tracker Report that shipping container traffic will decline for the first time since 2023. The NRF report noted that U.S. ports had not yet provided April data (see link at the bottom of this article for the Federation’s report).

At first glance, it appears that the expected U.S. port slowdown in footwear shipment deliveries from Southeast Asia factories in the first month since “Liberation Day” did not materialize. Many industry watchers expected deliveries scheduled in the sector would shrink in April after President Trump, on April 2, imposed significant tariff increases on what he referred to as “Liberation Day.”

As for April 2025 footwear shipments from Asia, two of the largest footwear producers in the region posted percentage growth gains versus the March 2025 trends and year-over-year volumes.

Feng Tay Enterprises
Feng Tay Enterprises, one of the longest-tenured manufacturers of Nike footwear, reported that manufacturing revenues grew 2.3 percent to NT$7.27 billion in April after declining 1.5 percent to NT$7.1 billion in March. The company’s April shipment growth at Feng Tay cycled against a 4.4 percent increase in April 2024.

Feng Tay Enterprises reports in New Taiwan Dollar (NT$) currency.

Yue Yuen Manufacturing
The company’s manufacturing business, used by a large portion of major outdoor and athletic brands in the U.S. and Europe, posted a 10.5 percent increase in April 2025, a sharp acceleration from a 3.5 percent increase in March.

Manufacturing was up 7.1 percent for the 2025 four-month YTD period through April.

Total net consolidated operating revenue generated in April 2025 by Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited, including footwear manufacturing and retail stores throughout China, rose 1.2 percent year-over-year to $658.3 million, primarily due to a weak Pou Sheng China Retail business.

Pou Sheng China retail revenues fell 15.3 percent year-over-year, signaling the Chinese economy may still be weak.

The company’s net consolidated accumulative operating revenue for the 2025 year-to-date (YTD) period through April rose 1.3 percent year-over-year to $2.69 billion.

Yue Yuen, and its footwear manufacturing business, trade and report in U.S. dollar ($) currency.

Image courtesy Port of Shanghai

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See below for additional SGB Media coverage of the ongoing tariff and cargo shipment issues.

Import Cargo Levels Expected to See First Year-Over-Year Drop Since 2023