Cargo going through ports in China has dropped by 9.7 percent in the second week of April, indicating that tariffs implemented by the Trump administration have been hammering the country's exports to the US.
Over the course of April 7-13, cargo traffic dropped by 9.7 percent to 244 million tons, according to the Wall Street Journal. The week prior, when President Donald Trump implemented his reciprocal tariffs, there was only a drop of 0.88 percent.
Container throughput dropped by 6.1 percent, the Journal reported, reversing an increase of 1.9 percent the week prior. The outlet reports that there has been a steady increase in port volumes since January 2025, and the last couple weeks have seen that reverse.
Trump first implemented a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods earlier this year, with an additional 10 percent being added in March, because the president has been wanting China to stop producing precursors for fentanyl, which then makes it way into the United States.
