US Ports Just Broke an All-Time Import Record
According to the July Global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, major US container ports were forecast to move roughly 2.47 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July 2026 — a new all-time monthly record, breaking the previous high of 2.4 million TEUs set back in May 2022. The surge didn’t come out of nowhere: May 2026 volume was already up 14.9% year-over-year, and June was up 18.7%.
That’s not normal peak-season growth. It’s a rush.
Why the Rush: A New Round of Tariffs
A temporary 10% Section 122 global tariff expired on July 24, 2026. The same day, a new set of Section 301 tariffs — 10% to 12.5% tied to forced-labor enforcement — took effect on goods from roughly 60 trading partners, including China, India, the UK, Canada, Vietnam, and the EU, following a June USTR determination that those countries hadn’t adequately banned or enforced bans on forced-labor imports. Retailers had a narrow window to get inventory landed before the new duty applied, and they used it. As NRF Vice President Jonathan Gold put it, “the busy back-to-school season has already started, and winter holidays won’t be far behind, so retailers have worked to get products into the U.S. before new tariffs drive prices higher.” Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett was blunter: “Much of this increase reflects frontloading ahead of expected tariff increases.”
On top of the tariff itself, enforcement tightened further: the Department of Homeland Security expanded its UFLPA Entity List by 43 companies on July 31, bringing the total to 187. As of August 3, US Customs and Border Protection presumes goods linked to any listed company were made with forced labor and detains them at the port by default — adding another layer of friction for shipments tied to those supply chains.
The Pullback Is Already Forecast
The same Global Port Tracker report shows the rush cooling fast. August volume is forecast at 2.22 million TEUs, down 4.5% from last year. September is projected at 1.99 million (down 5.7%), October at 1.99 million (down 3.8%), and November at 1.92 million (down 5.2%). In plain terms: retailers front-loaded as much as they could before the tariff deadline, and now imports are expected to run below last year’s pace for the rest of 2026 as that stockpile gets worked through instead of replaced.
What This Means If You Shop or Resell From US Stores
For Viabox customers — international shoppers and small resellers who use a US address to buy from American retailers — this cycle has a few practical implications:
- US shelves and warehouses are unusually well-stocked right now, because retailers rushed in inventory ahead of the tariff deadline. Selection shouldn’t be the problem this fall.
- That inventory was landed at pre-tariff cost. Once it sells through, replacement stock in tariff-affected categories — electronics, apparel, general merchandise sourced from the 60 listed countries — will carry the new 10-12.5% duty, which tends to show up in shelf prices with a lag.
- A record-volume month at the ports, plus new port-level detentions tied to the expanded UFLPA list, can add friction to the carrier networks feeding US warehouses during the surge. If you’re ordering during a heavy import week, it’s worth building in a few extra days before assuming something is lost.
Buy Now, Ship Smart
None of this changes how you should shop — it just changes the timing that works in your favor. Buying from US retailers now, while frontloaded inventory is still on shelves and before new tariff costs fully filter into pricing, is a reasonable way to get ahead of the curve. This is exactly the situation a US forwarding address is built for: you buy directly from American stores at today’s prices, have everything land at one US address, consolidate multiple orders into a single international shipment, and forward it home — without carrying inventory or waiting on a local retailer to stock the same items at a markup.
If you regularly buy or resell from US stores, it’s a good moment to get a free US address with Viabox and take advantage of the current window before pricing catches up with the new tariffs.
Ready to put your US address to work? Log in to your Viabox dashboard to manage shipments and consolidate packages — or create your free US address in minutes.