National Retail Federation

For October, the most recent month for which data is available, U.S. imports, for the ports surveyed in the report, came in at 2.07 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU), excluding the Port of Charleston, which marked a 1.8% sequential decline and a 7.9% annual decline.  

For September, the most recent month for which data is available, U.S. imports, for the ports surveyed in the report, came in at 2.1 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU), which marked a 9.3% sequential decline and a 7.4% annual decline.  

For 2025, NRF said it is calling for total holiday season spending to come increase between 3.7%-to-4.2% annually, coming in between $1.01 trillion-to-$1.02 trillion. In 2024, holiday sales saw a 4.3% annual gain, to $976.1 billion.

For the first half of 2025, Port Tracker said that total volume, at 12.53 million TEU, rose 3.7% annually, with calendar year 2025 expected to be down 2.9% annually, to 25.5 million TEU.

For July, the most recent month for which data is available, U.S. imports came in at 2.36 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), with the report’s authors saying that this tally excludes numbers for New York/New Jersey, Port Everglades, and Miami, marking a 20.1% gain over July, a period when importers were bringing in merchandise in advance of tariffs going into effect on August 1, while posting a 1.8% annual gain. This tally would mark the second highest-volume month on record, trailing...

With the White House’s widespread reciprocal tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners taking effect on August 7, the report said it expects total 2025 import cargo volume for the ports cited in the report to be 5.6% lower annually.

June retail sales, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading day differences but not price changes, came in at $720.1 billion, up 0.6% over May’s $715.5 billion and up 3.9% annually. And total retail sales, from April through June, posted a 4.1% annual gain compared to the same period a year ago.

For May, the most recent month for which data is available, United States imports came in at 1.95 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), marking an 11.8% sequential decline and a 6.4% annual increase, with the latter marking the first annual decline going back to September 2023 and the lowest tally in any month since May 2024’s 1.93 million TEU.

Commerce reported that May retail sales, at $715.4 billion, fell 0.9% compared to April and rose 3.3% annually. NRF reported that monthly core retail sales, which are based on Census data and exclude automobile dealers, gas stations, and restaurants, increased 0.1% on a seasonally-adjusted basis, from April to May, and rose 3.9% on an unadjusted basis annually.

The Economic Outlook issued earlier this month by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated that “global economic prospects are weakening with substantial barriers to trade, tighter financial conditions, diminishing confidence, and heightened policy uncertainty projected to have adverse impacts with growth.

Commerce reported that April retail sales, at $724.1 billion, were up 0.1% compared to March and up 5.2% annually. NRF reported that April’s retail sales which are based on Census data and exclude automobile dealers, gas stations, and restaurants, fell 0.1% on a seasonally-adjusted basis, from March to April, and rose 5.1% annually, on an unadjusted basis.

Commerce reported that March retail sales, at $734.9 billion, increased 1.4% over February and 4.6% annually. NRF reported that March’s retail sales which are based on Census data and exclude automobile dealers, gas stations, and restaurants, increased 0.6% seasonally-adjusted, from February to March, and were up 5.07% on an unadjusted basis annually.

While President Trump earlier today reversed course on widespread tariffs recently announced on United States trading partners, in the form of a 90-day pause through July 8, with the notable exception of China, the new edition of the Port Tracker report, which was released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates, expects U.S.-bound imports to recede in the coming months.

NRF said that retail sales are expected to see annual growth between 2.7%-to-3.7%, coming in between $5.42 trillion-to-$5.48 trillion. In its 2024, forecast, the organization called for a 3.6% annual increase, at $5.29 trillion, and it added that the 2025 forecast matches up with its 10-year pre-pandemic average annual sales growth rate, at 3.6%.

Commerce reported that February retail sales, at $722.7 billion, rose 0.2% over January and were up 3.1% annually. From December through February, it reported that retail sales increased 3.8% compared to the same period a year ago.