Friday, October 23, 2026
The Port of Savannah handled 504,015 twenty-foot equivalent units in September, a record for the month and 3.7 per cent more than a year earlier, led by imports. Georgia's other big port, Brunswick, handled 22 per cent less roll-on, roll-off cargo, the ships that carry vehicles and machinery.
The United States imported $420.8 billion of goods and services in August, the most in any month on record, and the trade deficit widened to $105.6 billion, the largest since March 2025. The last record was set by consumer goods rushed in ahead of tariffs. This one is made of capital goods. Four lines of hardware account for more than the whole rise in goods imports this year.
From January to July, China reported $258.1 billion of exports to the United States. The US Census Bureau recorded $158.3 billion of imports from China and Hong Kong. The difference, almost $100 billion, is five times its usual size, and a Peterson Institute analysis says tariff evasion is the most likely reason. Vietnam's figures run the other way.
Spot rates for a 40-foot container from the Far East to the US West Coast were $8,346 on 1 October, Xeneta said, up 344 per cent since 28 February. To the East Coast they were $11,523. The same box to northern Europe cost $3,726, and that price has been falling since July. Xeneta's chief analyst says the US rates have now peaked, but will not collapse.