Chinese shipping imports fell 22.7% year over year in January

The volume of goods imported to the US on container ships fell 6.8% YoY in January, with the most dramatic decrease from China imports, which fell 22.7%, according to new data from Descartes Datamyne, a trade-data intelligence platform. The declines come as US retailers grapple with President Trump’s tariffs and geopolitical fracases, with some shifting manufacturing from China as a hedge against tariffs.

Among the 10 top importers to the US—and second behind China decrease-wise—was Italy, which fell 14.9%, followed by South Korea (7.1%), Taiwan (7.6%), and Japan (2.4%). The biggest gains among the top 10 YoY were Thailand, up 36.5%, followed by Indonesia (18%), and Vietnam (17.8%).

Those fluctuations will come as no surprise to retail executives at major brands that, as tariff tensions with China have escalated during the Trump administration, have endeavored to shift manufacturing elsewhere.

In a May earnings call, Target’s Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said that when it comes to the retailer’s own brands, it had halved the portion manufactured in China from 60% in 2017 to 30%. “And we are well on our way to be less than 25%” by the end of 2026, he said.

Gap, Inc. also is shifting away from China, with President and CEO Richard Dickson noting in the company’s own May earnings call that less than 3% of its manufacturing would be sourced in the country by the end of 2025, and that by the end of 2026 it would have no more than 25% of manufacturing coming from a single country.

“We have been successfully diversifying our sourcing footprint for several years, demonstrating the agility and resilience of our supply chain,” Dickson said.

Tariffs’ impact on the volume of imports from China was noted in a January 15 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“Differential tariff changes directly corresponded to shifts in import levels, with imports from China declining most dramatically and other US trading partners maintaining more stable trade levels,” the report concluded.