United States-bound imports saw annual growth in February, according to data recently issued by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The firm reported that February imports, at 2.56 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), posted a 4.3% annual gain. And on a year-to-date basis, it reported that total U.S.-bound imports, at 5.38 million TEU, are up 6.3% compared to the same period in 2024.

These numbers come with a caveat according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, due to 2024 being a leap year and having one less day in February 2025 making that annual data “understated,” it said, adding that the TEU without a day’s adjustment in February are up 4.5% annually and are up 8.2% on a days’ adjusted basis.

Materials sector imports, which includes metals, chemicals, and forestry products, were up 13.0% in January, following a 14.9% January gain, with the firm observing that the sector has been beset by expanded steel tariffs and also new tariff reviews for forestry and copper industries. Imports of consumer discretionary products rose 15.4% annually in February, following a 13.0% increase in January, with home furnishings up 18.3% and home appliances up 17.6%. And consumer staples were up 10.1% on a days-adjusted basis, with food and beverages up 10.4% and household and personal care products up 11.2%.  

Capital goods saw the slowest rate of growth, up 4.2% annually, due to an 11.4% decrease in electrical equipment imports, which the firm said are being challenged by the White House’s renewable energy policies. Consumer electronics imports headed up 4.7% annually, down from 16.4% in January, which the report said may reflect the willingness of firms to increase prices to offset tariffs.

S&P Global Market Intelligence Research Director Chris Rogers told LM that February was certainly much stronger than anticipated on that day’s adjusted basis, adding that it is pretty clear that there is still the front-loading of freight occurring, coupled with the usual caveats about changes in timing of Lunar New Year.

“It does look, pretty much across most of the product groups that there were concerns about President Trump widening out tariffs, possibly beyond those initially expected,” he said. “If we look at the consumer goods space, for example, there are strong imports of home products and household appliances and textiles and apparel. Given that there’s doubts about how strong consumer spending is, that does, I think, look very much like front loading. I think there is a stronger degree of that happening. So maybe you meet people more concerned about the degree of tariff application that might actually occur. The areas that have been weak continue to be weak around capital goods, in particular, and that, to a certain extent, just speaks to the willingness of businesses, or otherwise, to continue to invest if they are facing higher costs from tariffs.”

While leading up to Trump’s inauguration, there was sentiment among many business leaders that tariffs would be used as a negotiating tactic between the U.S. and its trading partners, which only a few weeks later clearly turned out to not be the case, amid the White House’s ongoing flurry of tariff actions—which has subsequently created what could be viewed as a combination of supply chain uncertainty and turbulence.

“Everyone was expecting tariffs, but nobody was expecting the volatility and the on-again, off-again, nature of them either,” said Rogers. “At the end of the day, companies don’t mind what the business conditions are, as long as they know what the business conditions, and it’s that uncertainty that’s the killer for making significant business decisions. Everyone has expected the President to use tariffs and to potentially put them on and take them off again in response to negotiations. But just the speed and willingness to flip flop, I think, has proven to be a significant challenge.

For shippers who are trying to plan out, you know, the rest of the year, you know, we we’ve been hearing things like, ‘we’ll just assume that the tariffs will apply and we won’t try and second guess the timing.’ Second of all, conversations are very much [based] around pricing. How long do we want to pass this through to customers? Can we burden share with our suppliers? If you don’t know what’s happening next week, you’re certainly not going to try and second guess what’s going to happen during peak season. Never mind what might happen, over the next couple of years.”