The US will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% from China from 4 February 2025, with no room for shippers to front load their cargo as only goods that are already in transit to the US before 1 February 2025 will be exempted. These moves will do little to reverse the worsening container trade imbalance in the US, with imports continuing to outpace exports by 2.4 times last year compared to 1.8 times in 2017 before import tariffs were introduced in 2018.
China remains the largest origin for US imports, accounting for 41% of the total containerized imports in 2024, with total container volumes from China growing by 6.6% since 2017 even though its share has been eroded by the tariffs. Mexican imports only account for 0.5% of total containers shipped through US ports last year while Canadian imports on containerships are negligible.
Johnson Leung
US container imbalance worsens
Loaded container imports into the US continues to outpace exports by 2.4 times in 2024, providing clear evidence that import tariffs imposed since 2018 have been completely ineffective in reducing the US trade imbalance. Total laden imports grew by 24% between 2017 and 2024 while laden exports shrunk by 8% over the same period, driving a 54% increase in the number of empty containers repositioned out of the US.
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