Imports Off Two Percent in April, PIERS Says
U.S. containerized imports dropped 2 percent in April year over year, to 1,372,851 twenty-foot-equivalent units, said Mario Moreno, economist for The Journal of Commerce/PIERS. The decline followed a 7.3 percent year-over-year gain in March due, in part, to an early…
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Lunar New Year in China. Moreno predicted growth in imports will regain speed in the second half of the year, with the help of Federal Reserve intervention. Overall U.S. containerized imports were up 1 percent in the first four months of the year, the report said. Imports of footwear and miscellaneous fruits were each down 20 percent, the report said: menswear was down 19 percent; women's and infant wear down 11 percent; miscellaneous apparel down 11 percent; auto tires down 6 percent; and computer-related products down 8 percent. U.S. containerized imports from Asia declined 1.6 percent in April, with shipments from China down 3 percent. Chile dropped 25 percent, Hong Kong 11 percent and Belgium 17 percent. Japan was up 17 percent, and Vietnam up 14 percent.