Import volumes registered at 2,519,722 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a slight dip of 3.9% from July but marking a 1.6% year-over-year increase from August 2024.
Despite the high volume of imports, delays in port transit times at major US ports saw only a slight rise in August, indicating that infrastructure improvements have largely mitigated significant disruptions.
China, the leading source of US imports, saw a decrease to 869,523 TEUs in August, down by 5.8% from July and reflecting a substantial 10.8% drop compared to August of the previous year.
The decline in Chinese imports is part of a broader trend observed across the top ten countries of origin for US containerised goods, which collectively experienced a 4.4% month-over-month decrease.
South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan also contributed to this downward trajectory with double-digit percentage decreases in their export volumes to the US.
Conversely, Indonesia and India bucked the trend with modest increases in their export volumes to the US.
The sustained high import volumes underscore the sensitivity of US importers to tariff timings and ongoing trade policy shifts, said the report.
Container import volumes in the US for the first eight months are 3.3% higher than during the same period in 2024, indicating a continued trend of strong demand even amidst policy-related uncertainties.
Descartes Industry Strategy director Jackson Wood said: “A second consecutive month of elevated container imports continues to call attention to the combined impact of US tariff policy and seasonality on maritime trade, even as volumes from China declined.
“While overall demand has remained resilient in the face of ongoing tariff volatility and geopolitical disruption, key tariff measures are now under legal challenge and headed to the Supreme Court, leaving US importers to grapple with continued uncertainty as they weigh supply chain risks and mitigation efforts.”
According to the latest Global Port Tracker report, published by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, “import volumes are estimated to fall for the rest of 2025”.
