U.S. Imports Plunged in April as Trump Infers Deal is Reached with China

Ports were expecting strong declines in May and June as the trade war intensifies (Port of Los ANgeles file photo)

Published Jun 5, 2025 3:19 PM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. government released the official data for trade numbers, imports, and exports, for April confirming what port officials said that volumes were plunging due to the tariffs but it also created a record decline in the U.S. trade deficit. The data came as Donald Trump spoke with China’s leader Xi Jinping and later told reporters both sides were going on the terms of a trade deal.

Trump launched the trade war and tariffs to close the U.S. trade deficit and the numbers for April show the first effects. The U.S. trade deficit was down by half to $61.6 billion, the lowest in 19 months. The good trade deficit was down by more than 46 percent to $87.4 billion. 

Analysts highlighted that shippers had rushed to move goods, especially imports into the U.S. in the first quarter to get ahead of the tariffs, a point that was confirmed by major ports which reported strong volumes. However, in April and May ports such as Los Angeles reported volumes were dropping quickly reaching a level 30 percent below 2024 levels.

The U.S. government data confirmed this with imports off more than 16 percent in April and specifically goods off nearly 20 percent. The data showed a $3.5 billion decline in the imports of household goods including cellphones and other electronics. Industrial supplies and materials were also off dramatically ($23 billion) as well as growing declines in vehicles, parts, and engines. 

A positive note for ports and the economy is that good exports grew to a record $190 billion in April. This included industrial supplies, materials, finished metals, and crude oil.

Speaking with reports in the Oval Office later on Thursday, Trump said he had a good call with China’s leader about trade and that both sides were reviewing the terms of an agreement. He said “We have a deal,” but that is being interpreted to mean the agreement which delayed the tariffs of talks as China in its official readout said more talks would follow. Trump said reciprocal invitations had been extended and that he and Xi Jinping would be visiting each other in the future.

All of this came as Alphaliner reported today that volumes through the Panama Canal were at all-time highs in the first five months of the year. Its analysis shows that containership traffic set a record with over 1,200 crossings in both directions of the canal. It said this is up 10 percent year-over-year and four percent over the previous best in 2022. Alphaliner said the increase was driven by smaller, Neo Sub-Panamax vessels (7,500 to 10,000 TEU).

Analysts have speculated without the announcement of a formal trade deal between the U.S. and China shippers would rush volumes into the United States during the previously announced 90-day pause. Carriers were reported to already be repositioning vessels to meet demand from China. This comes after the U.S. ports said that they were seeing the first large numbers of blanked sailings for May and June since the early days of the pandemic in 2020.

Trump’s Homeland Security Dept. Cancels Order for Incomplete USCG Cutter

USCG James was commissioned in 2015 as the fifth ember of the Legend-class (USCG photo)

Published Jun 5, 2025 9:20 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The Department of Homeland Security is reporting that it canceled the order for the eleventh Legend-class national security cutter which was to be named USCG Friedman. Production for the vessel began in 2021 at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, but the project has been dogged by concerns.

Ingalls had a sole source contract as the only builder for the class which began delivering in 2008 and was designed to replace 12 aging 378?foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that have been in service for 40 years. At 418 feet long, the Legend-class NSC has a maximum speed of 28 knots and a range of 12,000 nautical miles. The tenth ship, USCG Calhoun was delivered in October 2023.

Work had begun for number 11 in May 2021. HII reported that the start of fabrication signified the first 100 tons of steel had been cut. USCG said the vessel was due for delivery in 2024 and plans called for it to be homeported in Charleston, South Carolina with four other Legend-class cutters.

“Huntington Ingalls owed us this cutter over a year ago,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “This project was over time and over budget. Now the money can be redirected to ensuring the Coast Guard remains the finest, most-capable maritime service in the world.”

According to the announcement for Homeland Security, canceling the contract with HII will save the U.S. over $260 million. They have also agreed that the Coast Guard will receive $135 million in parts that will be used to retrofit, upgrade, and maintain the Coast Guard’s existing fleet of 10 Legend-class cutters.

Congress has been highly critical of the USCG’s problems with its shipbuilding projects both for the cutters and the Polar Security Icebreakers. USCG had reported to Congress that there were issues with the project saying that construction of the 11th ship had been halted since at least November 2024 with the ship 15 percent complete. It blamed “material conformance concerns,” and said that the Coast Guard and the shipbuilder were working to resolve the issue.

The Coast Guard has also planned a 12th vessel in the Legand-class. Congress was yet to appropriate funds for the vessel but some long-lead elements were reportedly being ordered. 

Homeland Security highlights canceling the project will save money that can be used as part of the recently announced Force Design 2028 project to overhaul USCG operations and command structure. However, it did not address how the USCG will allocate resources for the two planned vessels which were scheduled as replacements for the older class which is now entirely decommissioned. The USCG had deferred the decommissioning of the last two Hamilton-class cutters, John Midget and Douglas Munro, to 2020 and 2021 while the rest of the class was replaced with the new cutters by 2018.