U.S. Container Imports To Fall To 24.1M TEUs In 2025

• U.S. retailers, as reported by the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker, anticipate that total containerized imports for 2025 will drop to approximately 24.1 million TEUs, marking a 5.6?cline from the 25.5 million TEUs recorded in 2024. This forecast reflects steep year-over-year monthly shortfalls in the final months of 2025 (September through December) largely driven by earlier “frontloading” of shipments to beat tariff hikes.

• The U.S. and China have agreed to extend their current tariff truce for another 90 days, keeping China’s reduced tariff rate at 10% (down from 34%) and the U.S. rate at 30%, while China maintains its suspension of retaliatory duties. The extension, effective through roughly November 10, 2025, provides supply chains with short-term stability ahead of the peak holiday season and gives both countries more time to negotiate a longer-term trade agreement, avoiding immediate tariff hikes that could disrupt global trade and fuel inflation.

• Maersk raised its 2025 profit forecast to $8.0–$9.5 billion after stronger-than-expected Q2 results, driven by resilient global container demand and higher freight rates despite trade tensions. Sluggish U.S. imports were offset by growth in Europe and other regions, though the company expects demand to soften in the second half of the year.