U.S. maritime imports held steady in 2025, even while reshaping port performance, sourcing strategies, and supply chains in one of the most unpredictable trade environments in decades, according to an annual report from supply chain software vendor Descartes. The “2026 Descartes Datamyne Port Report” shows how trade volatility and changing port dynamics disrupted established patterns across U.S. ports of entry over the past year, the firm said.
Under the weight of U.S. tariffs, growth in containerized import volumes in 2025 was flat, reaching 28,093,126 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for a razor-thin decline of 0.03% from 2024’s 28,112,319 TEUs.
In Descartes’ analysis, shipments shuttled between unseasonable peaks, triggered by a combination of overstocking, lagging demand, and uncertainty around tariffs stalled orders for February. As Chinese tariffs began to ratchet up, orders rushed in until the cumulative rate hit a trade-stopping 145% in April. Tariffs fell back with May’s truce between the U.S. and China, and the floodgates opened to deferred orders. Imports surged on the rebound in shipments from China, augmented by front-loading ahead of the August effective date for reciprocal tariffs on goods from more than 180 countries.
Not all U.S. ports were equally affected by the inconsistent performance of Chinese imports. The West Coast was most exposed with China-sourced shipments accounting for 47.7% of TEUs in 2025, compared with 25.9% at Gulf ports and 22.4% on the East Coast.
As the U.S. struck new deals with trading partners and tariffs were raised, rolled back, and postponed, shippers and importers scrambled to adjust business strategies by deferring or rushing orders, diversifying markets and reconfiguring supply chains. During summer’s front-loading, more shippers and importers opted for the shorter transit times of Asia to West Coast routes.
Carriers, redeploying resources to meet shifting demand, curtailed vessel calls at secondary ports, resulting in losses in container volume. There were signs that the West Coast was set to regain a leading share of maritime imports in 2025. After August, however, there was little daylight between the volume trendlines for East and West Coasts. And by year-end, the East had a fractional edge over the West.
Meanwhile, new anti-circumvention rules (effective August 7) and port fees on China-built vessels (October 14) further complicated logistics. Geopolitical tensions also continued to disrupt trade through the South China Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Red Sea.
Descartes says its report is intended as a reference on U.S. import trade trends for port authorities, carriers, logistics providers, importers, and shippers. It is based on data from Descartes Datamyne, a trade database covering the global commerce of 250 markets across 5 continents. The U.S. waterborne import data that is the basis for this report is gathered directly from the bills of lading that document all inbound shipments, the company said.
