trade

Steady summer growth for United States-bound retail container shipments appears to be in the cards, even though the possibilities of steep tariffs being placed on imported goods from China remains a distinct possibility, according to the most recent edition of the Port Tracker report issued by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.

November shipments were up 3.9% annually to 979,797 topping October’s 1,016,892. Import volumes have been up for nine consecutive months and 16 of the past 17 months. In 2017, U.S.-bound shipments have been up every month except for February.