Imports at major US retail container ports are likely to set record numbers in summer and fall 2018, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. Consumers are buying more, so retailers are importing more, said NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold.

“Imports continue to be the primary source of high-quality, mass-produced necessities at affordable prices and will be for the foreseeable future. If tariffs are imposed on consumer goods, that will only drive up prices for American families while doing little or nothing to punish those responsible for unfair trade practices,” Gold said in an NRF press release.

“Despite an environment where the US administration is enacting measures that could well lead to a trade war with most of its Asian and European trading partners, we see imports continuing to grow,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said, noting that manufacturers have seen increased orders that reflect solid consumer demand.

Ports covered by the Global Port Tracker handled 1.63 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in April, which was down by 5.8 per cent from March and up 0.3 per cent year-over-year. A TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.

May was estimated at 1.77 million TEU, up 1.3 per cent year-over-year. The first half of 2018 is expected to total 10.2 million TEU, an increase of 3.8 per cent over the first half of 2017. The total for 2017 was 20.5 million TEU, up 7.6 per cent from 2016’s previous record of 19.1 million TEU.