Retailers Rush In Holiday Imports Early to Avoid Looming Costs
The Wall Street Journal reported on 26 June 2026 that US importers were pulling Halloween and Christmas orders forward to land goods before new tariffs due to take effect at the end of July, and before the bunker fuel surcharges ocean carriers were expected to add in the following weeks. Xeneta put the average China to US West Coast rate for a 40 foot container at $5,933, the highest since September 2024 and roughly three times the level at the end of February. Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand said a further 30% rise was possible before rates peak. Los Angeles and Long Beach moved 868,221 twenty foot equivalent units in May, 33% more than in May 2025, and Census Bureau data showed the retail inventory to sales ratio, excluding motor vehicles and parts, holding at 1.09 in April for a second month.
Inventory landed early is a warehousing problem before it is a selling problem: it needs storage, handling and working capital for longer, and it pulls overflow space and 3PL capacity forward with it. A pulled forward peak also flattens the curve the network was staffed for, so peak labour and carrier capacity sized on last year's shape will be wrong at both ends. When a buyer is racing a deadline, certainty of space and landed cost visibility outrank unit price.