This year’s peak shipping season is coming to an end, with import volume at the nation’s major container ports expected to remain high this month before starting to decline for the remainder of 2026, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
While ports have remained busy this summer and spread out the peak season, this year’s busiest month appears to have arrived in May, when they handled 2.24 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The peak shipping season, which historically came in late summer or fall, has become earlier and smoother in recent years amid reasons ranging from supply chain disruptions to expected tariff increases.
“We had an early peak season this year as retailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariff changes in late July and responded to other uncertainties in the supply chain like the ongoing disruption brought by the conflict in Iran,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “One round of tariffs has been replaced with another, but retailers will be well stocked for the coming holiday season. Retailers know how to adapt to shifting situations and are well prepared to meet consumers’ demand for affordability and choice.”
Specific tariff conditions have been shifting swiftly, as temporary 10% Section 122 global tariffs that took effect in February expired on July 23, but a new round of 10% to 12.5% Section 301 tariffs took effect the next day. Those new import taxes are purported to pressure production using forced labor, covering 60 economies and affecting 99% of U.S. imports.
Shoppers have taken the resulting price increases in stride, the report found. “Consumers might have been expected to become more cautious as cost-of-living pressures persist,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “Even so, consumer spending has remained resilient despite persistent geopolitical uncertainty.”
While a whole-year total is still pending, 2026 is expected to total 25.5 million TEU, up 0.1% from last year. Imports totaled 25.4 million TEU in 2025, down 0.3% from 25.5 million TEU in 2024.
By the numbers, U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.23 million TEU in June, the latest month for which final numbers are available. That was up 13.2% from a year earlier, when imports were down sharply because of last year’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, but down 0.7% from May. The first half of 2026 totaled 12.7 million TEU, up 1.1% from the same period in 2025.Ports have not yet reported July numbers, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.21 million TEU, down 7.6% year over year. August is forecast at 2.22 million TEU, down 4.2% year over year. Imports are expected to decline steadily each month for most of the rest of the year, although volumes will be above 2025. September is forecast at 2.16 million TEU, up 2.8% year over year; October at 2.13 million TEU, up 2.7% year over year; November at 2.03 million TEU, up 0.3%, and December should pick up slightly at 2.06 million TEU, up 2.5% over last year.
