In August 2025, U.S. container imports eased modestly from July but remained elevated in the 2.4M–2.6M twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) range, underscoring continued strong performance even as China-origin volumes declined. China’s pullback reflects a cooling after July’s rebound, but overall demand remained resilient in the face of ongoing tariff uncertainty and geopolitical risks. While the U.S.–China tariff truce continues to cap duties at 30% through mid-November 2025, reciprocal tariffs expanded to more than 60 countries on August 7, and key tariff measures are now under legal challenge and headed to the Supreme Court, leaving importers to weigh risks and plan mitigation efforts. In addition, the Red Sea crisis, stricter enforcement on China-linked transshipments, and uncertain economic signals continue to challenge global supply chains.
U.S. container imports remain elevated for a second consecutive month.
In August 2025, U.S. container imports reached 2,519,722 TEUs—the second-highest monthly total this year and only narrowly below the record level 2,622,465 TEUs set in May 2022 (see Figure 1). On a year-to-date basis, volumes through August are tracking 3.3% ahead of the same period in 2024, reinforcing the longer-term trend of resilient demand despite policy uncertainty.
Figure 1: U.S. Container Import Volume Year-over-Year Comparison
Source: Descartes Datamyne
August volumes were down 3.9% (102,188 TEUs) from July (see Figure 2), a slightly stronger decline than the 3.0% month-over-month drop recorded in August 2024. While consistent with seasonal levels that August has shown in four of the past five years, the elevated volume also underscores the probable sensitivity to tariff timing as importers continued to adjust shipment flows in response to policy deadlines, including U.S.–China tariff truce and the August 29 repeal of the U.S. de minimis exemption for all countries, which removed duty-free treatment for low-value parcels.
Figure 2: July to August U.S. Container Import Volume Comparison
Source: Descartes Datamyne
Port delays extend modestly in August despite a second month of elevated volumes.
Despite elevated August volumes, port transit time delays increased only modestly over July, indicating that top East and West Coast ports are absorbing the added pressure without major disruption (see Figure 3). In the East, Norfolk (1.1 days) and Charleston (0.2 days) experienced small increases in delays. On the West Coast, Long Beach (1.0 days), Seattle (0.3 days), and Tacoma (0.2 days) also experienced small increases. Los Angeles and New York/New Jersey showed modest decreases in delays, improving to 3.0 days and 6.0 days, respectively; Savannah eased to 4.8 days, and Houston improved to 3.7 days. Oakland held steady at 4.9 days, unchanged from July.
Figure 3: Monthly Average Transit Delays (in days) for the Top 10 Ports (Jun. 2025 – Aug. 2025)
Source: Descartes Datamyne
Note: Descartes’ definition of port transit delay is the difference as measured in days between the Estimated Arrival Date, which is initially declared on the bill of lading, and the date when Descartes receives the CBP-processed bill of lading data.
China-origin imports ease in August amid extended tariff truce.
August imports from China come against the backdrop of the 90-day extension of the U.S.–China tariff truce, which preserves the 30% tariff ceiling through mid-November. Volumes decreased to 869,523 TEUs, down 5.8% month-over-month, 10.8% year-over-year, and 15% compared to the record July 2024 level of 1,022,913 TEUs (see Figure 4). China’s share of total U.S. imports slipped modestly in August to 34.5% from July’s 35.2%.
Figure 4: August 2024–August 2025 Comparison of U.S. Total and Chinese TEU Container Volume Relative to Chinese Import Record
Source: Descartes Datamyne
A large number of China’s top import categories experienced double-digit year-over-year declines. Aluminum and products thereof (HS-76) saw the steepest drop, down 43.9%. Apparel (HS-61, HS-62) and footwear (HS-64) were also down—by more than 20% from August 2024. Additionally, furniture and bedding (HS-94) was down 14.3%, toys and sporting goods (HS-95) down 17.4%, electric machinery (HS-85) down 14.1%, vehicles (HS-87) down 13.4%, and articles of iron or steel (HS-73) down 18.2%. In contrast, plastics (HS-39) grew nearly 10% and expanded its share to over 13% of all China-origin TEUs.
Despite ongoing adjustments across sectors, trade volumes continue to highlight China’s central role in U.S. supply chains; however, with the November deadline looming amid ongoing negotiations, the outlook for China’s share of U.S. imports remains sensitive.
Month-over-month imports from top 10 CoOs ease as China pullback drives overall decline.
August U.S. import volumes from the top 10 countries of origin (CoO) fell 4.4% month-over-month—a combined decline of 83,296 TEUs (see Figure 5). The decrease was led by China, down 53,552 TEUs (5.8%), with notable declines from South Korea (11.8%), Japan (14.5%), and Taiwan (12.9%). Smaller drops from Vietnam (0.5%), Hong Kong (1.4%), Thailand (0.6%), and Germany (1.3%) added to the softening of volumes. Offsetting gains were limited to Indonesia (5.3%) and India (1.7%).
Figure 5: July 2025 to August 2025 Comparison of U.S. Import Volumes from Top 10 Countries of Origin
Source: Descartes Datamyne
Modest year-over-year CoO growth driven by Vietnam, India, and Thailand.
Compared to August 2024, August 2025 volumes from the top 10 CoOs rose by a slight 0.7%—a net gain of 11,818 TEUs (see Figure 6). The increase was driven by strong growth from Vietnam (25.2%), India (34.0%), Thailand (35.6%), and Indonesia (45.6%), with additional gains from Japan (4.3%) and Hong Kong (2.1%). These advances more than offset declines from China (10.8%), South Korea (11.0%), Germany (9.8%), and Taiwan (9.4%). The pattern underscores ongoing diversification toward South and Southeast Asia even as China remains the largest, but most volatile, source of U.S. imports.
Figure 6: August 2024 to August 2025 Comparison of U.S. Import Volumes from Top 10 Countries of Origin
Source: Descartes Datamyne
Managing supply chain risk through the remainder of 2025.
While U.S. container import volumes showed continued strong performance in August, global supply chains continue to grapple with volatility. In the face of ongoing tariff uncertainty and geopolitical risks, U.S. importers need to continue to evaluate strategies and tactics to mitigate risk, build greater supply chain resiliency, and adapt their operations in a rapidly shifting trade landscape.
By Jackson Wood, Director of Industry Strategy at Descartes
Notes:
1. U.S. tariff rates cited in this report were current as of 4pm ET on September 5, 2025.
2. This report uses the initial compiled release of publicly available U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Bill of Lading (BOL) data for all U.S. ports, which provides a standard, official source of data for reporting on maritime trade. This data can be subject to modification later by CBP. The modified data can be seen in Descartes Datamyne where U.S. maritime records are processed daily. Descartes Datamyne is ISO 9001 certified.
3. In Descartes Datamyne, twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) are calculated using a combination of container size and weight as declared on Bills of Lading filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
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