Imports are seen to be down 22 percent year over year.

According to new figures released by the Global Port Tracker, which is put together each month by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, imports are down 22 percent compared to last year.

The decline has been cumulative throughout the year as imports softened in the winter months. And with spring, volume began to rebound. In April, the top Ports of Entry handled 1.78 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units. That was a 9.6% increase from March. Still down 21.3% from last year, reflecting a record cargo hauled over the spike in consumer demand of 2021 and the inventory glut 2022.

Consumer spending is holding up well in 2023 even as inflation and interest rates collide, but the strong job market has helped the economy remain different from previous pandemic days: Shipping volumes are once again starting to resemble pre-COVID-19 days.
"Economists and shipping lines increasingly wonder why the decline in container import demand is so much at odds with continuous growth in consumer demand," Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said in a statement. "Import container shipments have returned to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019 and appear likely to stay there for a while."

Both retailers and logistics professionals are looking at the second half of the year as a possible turn-around. Peak shipping happens during summer in preparation for peak shopping that is likely to happen during holidays.

However, labor disputes threaten to throw shipping on the West Coast into chaos. This week, ports from Los Angeles to Seattle reported closures and slowdowns as raging union disputes boiled over, CNBC reported. NRF urged the Biden administration to step in. "Cargo volume is lower than last year but retailers are entering the busiest shipping season of the year bringing in holiday merchandise.". The last thing retailers and other shippers need is ongoing disruption at the ports, NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. If labor and management can't get together and get on with their business, retailers will have no choice but to continue to take their cargo to East Coast and Gulf Coast gateways. We would like the administration to intervene with the sides so that they can find a compromise and the disruptions end, and everything goes back to normal. We've had two successive years of indispensable supply chain problems; this can't be one that is avoidable.