Frankly, we didn’t think the US federal government shutdown would last this long. Anecdotal information is that imports are arriving at US ports and being processed by Customs, but delays in moving shipments out of port facilities are just beginning (see Bloomberg, for instance).
Here’s what our bill of lading data shows about the volume of trade through four major ports in five-day increments, October 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 this year, compared with the same periods last year:
The effects of the shutdown were not expected to be felt until two-weeks on – when the interruption in such government services as Ex-Im Bank loans and FDA inspections would start to slow deliveries in progress and new transactions.
We’ll continue to monitor the bill of lading import data. If there’s a particular port, or product, or company, you’d like to track through the latest available import data, contact us.