Retailers ordered goods earlier than typical this year to avoid new tariffs that went into effect on July 24, leading to an early peak season for import cargo, according to the Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
NRF said this year’s peak shipping season is now coming to an end, with import volume at the nation’s major container ports expected to remain high this month before starting to decline for the remainder of 2026.
“We had an early peak season this year as retailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariff changes in late July and responded to other uncertainties in the supply chain like the ongoing disruption brought by the conflict in Iran,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “One round of tariffs has been replaced with another, but retailers will be well stocked for the coming holiday season. Retailers know how to adapt to shifting situations and are well prepared to meet consumers’ demand for affordability and choice.”
Temporary 10 percent Section 122 global tariffs that took effect in February expired on July 23 but a new round of 10 percent to 12.5 percent Section 301 tariffs regarding forced labor covering 60 economies and affecting 99 percent of U.S. imports took effect the next day.
“Consumers might have been expected to become more cautious as cost-of-living pressures persist,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “Even so, consumer spending has remained resilient despite persistent geopolitical uncertainty.”
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.23 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units — one 20-foot container or its equivalent — in June, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was up 13.2 percent from a year earlier, when imports were down sharply because of last year’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, but down 0.7 percent from May. The first half of 2026 totaled 12.7 million TEU, up 1.1 percent from the same period in 2025.
Ports have not yet reported July numbers, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.21 million TEU, down 7.6 percent year over year.
August is forecast at 2.22 million TEU, down 4.2 percent year over year. Imports are expected to decline steadily each month for most of the rest of the year, although volumes will be above 2025. September is forecast at 2.16 million TEU, up 2.8 percent year over year; October at 2.13 million TEU, up 2.7 percent year over year; November at 2.03 million TEU, up 0.3 percent, and December should pick up slightly at 2.06 million TEU, up 2.5 percent over last year.
While ports have remained busy this summer and spread out the peak season, this year’s busiest month appears to have arrived in May, when they handled 2.24 million TEU. The peak shipping season, which historically came in late summer or fall, has become earlier and smoother in recent years amid reasons ranging from supply chain disruptions to expected tariff increases.
While a whole-year total is still pending, 2026 is expected to total 25.5 million TEU, up 0.1 percent from last year. Imports totaled 25.4 million TEU in 2025, down 0.3 percent from 25.5 million TEU in 2024.
Global Port Tracker provides historical data and forecasts for the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.
Image courtesy Port of Los Angeles/Charts courtesy NRF
