NRF: Retail Imports Rising Again as Summer Approaches

The following article contains excerpts from a press release issued on April 8, 2019 by the National Retail Federation.

April 8, 2019 | With tariff increases delayed for the foreseeable future and the busy summer season approaching, imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are beginning to climb again, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

“Retailers are starting to stock up in anticipation of a strong summer,” Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy, said in a press release. “Tariff increases are on hold and progress is being reported in talks between the United States and China, so the imports we’re seeing now are driven primarily by expectations for consumer demand.”

U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.62 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in February, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 14.3 percent from January and down 4 percent year-over-year. February is traditionally the slowest month of the year because of Lunar New Year factory shutdowns in Asia and the lull between retailers’ holiday and summer seasons. (A TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.)

However, the retail trade association estimates: March imports to rise 5.9 percent year-over-year; April imports to rise 6.9 percent; May imports to rise 4 percent; June imports to rise 2 percent; July imports to rise 2.9 percent, and August imports to rise 4.3 percent. The August number would be the highest since the record 2 million TEU set last October as retailers brought holiday merchandise into the country ahead of expected tariff increases.

In 2018, imports set a new record of 21.8 million TEU, an increase of 6.2 percent over 2017. The first half of 2019 is expected to rise 3.7 percent over the first half of 2018.

NRF’s Global Port Tracker covers the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, CA; Oakland, CA; Seattle, WA; Tacoma, WA; New York/New Jersey; Port of Virginia, VA; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Port Everglades, FL; Miami, FL; Jacksonville, FL; and Houston, TX.

The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries.