China imports to the U.S. fell 16%, dragging down container volumes at major ports

China’s shipments into the United States are falling fast, with new figures showing a heavy slide across every part of the supply chain, according to CNBC.

Imports that pushed ports to record levels earlier this year are rolling back as Donald Trump’s tariffs cut deeper into demand.

Truckload pricing shows how sharp the drop became by October. Rates for van, flatbed, and refrigerated loads all turned lower for the first time this year on both a monthly and yearly basis.

Van loads slipped 3% from September and 11% from a year ago. Refrigerated loads fell 2% month over month and 7% year over year. Flatbeds dropped 4% monthly and 3% annually.

Ken Adamo, the chief of analytics at DAT, said shippers spent months building inventory ahead of tariff deadlines and weak demand, and he said the usual holiday shipping wave “looks virtually non-existent this year.”

Ports report heavy losses as China cargo slows

A month-long government shutdown delayed the latest trade numbers, but the Census Bureau’s release showed August imports dropping $18.4 billion compared to July after new tariffs took effect.

That decline cut the nation’s trade deficit by more than 23%. At the Port of Long Beach, CEO Mario Cordero said China imports are down 16%, and he said the reduction “is across the board.” The Port of Los Angeles also logged a fall in October volumes.

Electronics, furniture, and toys are moving in smaller amounts. U.S. grain exports are also falling because China shifted more soybean purchases to Brazil during the trade dispute. China has recently agreed to buy more U.S. soybeans, but that move has not reversed the wider decline.

The container slide shows up even after a surge of frontloading earlier in the year. Retailers rushed to bring goods in ahead of tariff deadlines, pushing global containers headed for the West Coast up 10% year over year.

Containers from China to the West Coast rose 4.6% because the route has the fastest transit time. Even with those gains, the recent downturn is cutting into flows. East Coast ports such as Houston saw a modest 2% rise in overall boxes, but China-linked shipments there dropped 12%.

Cordero said the port is “still in the black,” but he added that the next two months will show how strong or weak consumer spending will be during the year’s final stretch.

Freight orders fall as buyers brace for weaker spending

Ben Tracy, vice president of strategic business development at Vizion, said the platform expects a 16.6% year-over-year drop in U.S. imports in December after a 12% decline in the third quarter.

Tracy said there is “no bounce back in sight.” Retailers and manufacturers are holding back orders because they expect consumers to slow spending under higher food and product prices.

Home Depot and Target reported weaker earnings, while Walmart said more shoppers are focusing on value and that more of its sales now come from higher-income buyers.

Vizion’s data shows monthly imports have dropped below 2 million TEUs for the first time since March 2023. Kyle Henderson, the CEO of Vizion, said this fall is tied to tariff uncertainty, a frozen housing market, and a move away from buying physical goods.

He said furniture imports are down 33%, and toy imports, which normally rise 40–50% before the holidays, are up only 17%.

Container use has slipped from 100% to 91%. Henderson said spot rates are at two-year lows and warned that the downturn is big enough to reshape freight demand for years.

Containers scheduled to reach U.S. ports in December 2025 total 2.19 million TEUs, down from 2.62 million TEUs last year. That 430,000-TEU drop is pushing pressure onto railroads, trucks, warehouses, and port labor.

Less volume also means fewer jobs. Cordero said workers are worried, and he warned that falling demand will cut into daily shifts for longshore crews. The International Longshoremen’s Association, which moves freight at the docks, loses part of its yearly container bonus as volumes fall.

Tariffs on India are adding more strain. The Global Trade Research Initiative said Indian exports to the U.S. fell 37.5% between May and September because India faces a 50% tariff on its goods.

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