Report Highlights

The U.S. Role in Global Maritime Freight

The United States is the largest single consumer market for seaborne containerized imports, and its trade lanes shape global freight rates. Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York and New Jersey, and Savannah together handled more than 34 million TEU in 2024, with China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Mexico supplying most inbound boxes. Outbound flows are led by agricultural bulk, crude oil, and LNG moving through Gulf Coast terminals, so the country runs a structural container deficit but a surplus in energy and grain.

Import dependency is structural. Domestic oceangoing vessels under the U.S. flag number only about 180, so foreign trade moves almost entirely on ships operated by Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, COSCO, and Hapag-Lloyd. Value capture therefore sits in port terminals, warehousing, drayage, and rail intermodal rather than in shipbuilding, where U.S. yards deliver a negligible share of global tonnage. This makes the country strategically exposed to foreign carrier alliances and to disruption at a handful of coastal gateways.

Growth Drivers for U.S. Maritime Freight

Nearshoring is redirecting container demand toward Mexico and Gulf Coast gateways. Mexico became the largest U.S. trading partner in goods in 2023, and manufacturing relocation is lifting volumes through Houston, where the Houston Ship Channel deepening enables larger vessels to call. Inland, Laredo and Dallas rail corridors are absorbing flows that once ran directly from Los Angeles to Chicago, adding intermodal capacity along the I-35 and Mexican border axis.

LNG export expansion is creating a second growth engine for bulk shipping. The Plaquemines and Corpus Christi Stage 3 terminals, alongside the Sabine Pass expansion, ship cargoes to Europe and Asia, requiring specialized carriers and berths. Freight demand also rises from rail infrastructure investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which funds port-rail connectors at Savannah, Norfolk, and Baltimore. Together these drivers expand the market beyond container boxes.

Supply Chain Risks and Trade Barriers

Tariff policy is the largest near-term risk to container volumes. USTR Section 301 port-fee measures against Chinese-built and Chinese-operated vessels created volatile surcharges for carriers in 2025, and their suspension remains subject to US-China negotiations. Reciprocal tariffs on imported consumer goods also front-load shipments, producing sharp monthly swings in Los Angeles and Long Beach throughput that complicate capacity planning for drayage and warehousing operators.

Labor and infrastructure constraints compound the risk. The ILA master contract ratified in 2025 runs through 2030, and the ILWU contract on the West Coast expires in 2028, so disruption windows are predictable but not eliminated. Rail concentration matters as well, since Union Pacific and BNSF handle most transcontinental intermodal, and the proposed Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger would consolidate eastern capacity further. Drought-driven Panama Canal draft restrictions in 2023 and 2024 showed how single chokepoints amplify shortages.

Trade and Investment Opportunities in the United States

Shipbuilding is the clearest inbound investment opportunity. Hanwha Philly Shipyard, acquired by Hanwha Ocean in 2024, has committed to expanding U.S. commercial construction capacity, and aging Jones Act fleets create sustained replacement demand. Foreign capital entering domestic yards would address a structural shortage of U.S.-built tonnage, while newbuild partnerships with Matson and Crowley offer a defined offtake base.

Logistics hubs offer the second opportunity. Inland intermodal sites such as Dallas-Fort Worth and the Chicago-area Elwood facility are attracting cold-chain and cross-dock investment, while Gulf Coast LNG terminals require bunkering, crew transfer, and maintenance dock capacity. Exporters can also target agricultural bulk shipments moving down the Mississippi River system, where barge-to-vessel transfer at New Orleans handles significant volume.

Market at a Glance

Leading Market Participants

• Maersk
• Mediterranean Shipping Company
• CMA CGM
• COSCO Shipping Lines
• Hapag-Lloyd
• Ocean Network Express
• Evergreen Marine
• Matson
• Crowley Maritime
• Kirby Corporation

Regulatory and Trade Policy Environment

The Jones Act, derived from the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, reserves domestic waterborne trade for U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed vessels. The Federal Maritime Commission enforces the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which governs carrier practices, detention and demurrage charges, and unfair treatment of shippers. The Harbor Maintenance Tax applies to imported and domestic cargo moving through commercial ports, adding a cost layer that Congress continues to debate.

Trade agreements shape lanes directly. USMCA, due for joint review in 2026, sets rules of origin for Mexican-assembled vehicles and components moving through U.S. ports, while the US-China tariff regime and Section 301 measures alter transpacific cost structures. Customs and Border Protection enforces entry requirements, and the Maritime Administration administers Title XI loan guarantees and cargo preference rules favoring U.S.-flagged vessels for government-sponsored cargo.

U.S. Maritime Freight Supply Chain Outlook to 2032

Through 2032, container gateways will rebalance toward the Gulf and Southeast. Savannah, Houston, and Norfolk are advancing terminal expansions with automated capacity, while Los Angeles and Long Beach continue investing in zero-emission cargo handling under California port clean-air programs. This shift redistributes trade flows without reducing the West Coast's role as the principal Asia gateway.

Technology will alter comparative advantage. Automated terminals, digital bills of lading, and dual-fuel vessels running on LNG and methanol shift value toward operators with capital to upgrade. The Jones Act fleet's ability to adopt these technologies will determine whether coastal freight remains a protected niche or becomes a cost-competitive alternative to truck freight on the I-95 corridor.