It’s too soon to tell whether and to what extent the US federal government shutdown will impact US imports. But it’s not too soon to start keeping track.
Here’s what our bill of lading data shows about the volume of trade through four major ports October 1 through 5 this year compared with the same period last year:
Keep in mind that the shutdown likely has had little or no effect on these early results. As Customs and Border Protection promised last week, its port of entry operations “will remain operational.”
That doesn’t mean there isn’t real worry over the damage that would be done by a protracted shutdown of two or more weeks, during which cutbacks or suspensions of other trade-related services (such as Food & Drug Administration inspections, or International Trade Administration activities) begin to take their toll.
We’ll keep following the bill of lading import data. If there’s a particular port, or product, or company, you’d like to track with the latest available import data, contact us.
