US container imports decrease due to Trump's trade policy

The trade deficit of the US has been significantly reduced by Trump's trade policy. The latest figures show that container imports decreased by 0.4% last year. The US Supreme Court may issue a ruling today on the legality of Trump's high import tariffs. At home, snow and ice caused distribution problems this week. The World Container Index by Drewry has risen by 16% this week to $2,557 per 40-footer. The increase is caused by a significant price rise on the routes from China to both the US and Europe, with Los Angeles leading at 26%. Shanghai – New York follows with an increase of 20%, and container rates from China to Genoa and Rotterdam rose by 13% and 10% respectively. According to Drewry, the capacity on both the route from Asia to North America and Northern Europe and the Mediterranean has increased by 7% to 10% compared to last month. However, the volumes from Asia to the US were disappointing, leading the data platform to expect that the high container rates for that destination are unlikely to last long. Trump's tariff war has yielded results; the trade deficit has been significantly reduced from April ('Liberation Day') to October 2025 to its lowest level since mid-2009, reports the US Department of Commerce. New data from Descartes Systems Group regarding US container imports, cited by the Reuters news agency, shows that these fell by 5.9% in December to 2.2 million TEU and ended 0.4% lower in 2025 than in 2024, at 28.1 million TEU. Descartes attributes the decline also to the trade policy of President Donald Trump, which drastically reduced imports from China. At the beginning of last year, imports actually rose in anticipation of new import duties, but that was more than offset. In December, imports from China were 21.8% lower than a year earlier, reports Reuters. We are waiting for the ruling (possibly today) from the US Supreme Court regarding the legality of the high trade tariffs. Attack on Venezuelan container port During the US military operation last weekend in Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro was captured, but the container port La Guaira was also attacked. According to the data agency Freightos, the consequences of the attack on the country's second container port will likely remain limited to Venezuela itself, as Venezuela is a small market for container transport with a total handling capacity of about 1 million TEU (20-foot containers) per year. Distribution problems due to winter weather The winter weather has caused many distribution problems in the Netherlands this week. Supermarket shelves became empty and online supermarket Picnic decided not to deliver at all on Wednesday because it was too icy for the small electric vans. On Thursday, the online supermarket resumed delivery, but delays and lower stock are still being warned about. Nu.nl reports that supermarkets have encountered virtually no problems with restocking since Thursday. The grocery delivery from various supermarkets is still not running smoothly everywhere, and the times at which deliveries can be made are further away than usual.