Shipping from China to the USA: Ports and Routes

By ChinaManufacturers.com Editorial Desk · Updated 30 October 2026 · How this page was researched

How goods move from China to the US

Most commercial cargo shipped from China to the United States moves as ocean freight: goods packed into shipping containers, loaded at a Chinese port and carried by ship to a US gateway port, then moved inland by rail or truck. Ocean freight is booked either as FCL (full container load, one shipper's goods in a container) or LCL (less than container load, several shippers' goods consolidated into one container).

Carrier services typically call at several Chinese ports on one rotation before crossing. A South China loop might call at Yantian and Shekou in Shenzhen, Nansha in Guangzhou, and Xiamen; a Central China loop might call at Shanghai and Ningbo. South China here means the Pearl River Delta manufacturing region of Guangdong and the neighboring coast.

An importer shipping from China makes four routing decisions:

Origin port, ideally close to the factory and with a direct service to the intended US gateway.
US gateway, either a West Coast port with rail to the interior or an all-water service to the East or Gulf Coast.
Incoterm, which decides whether the importer or the Chinese seller books the main freight.
Service level, including whether the service is direct or transships at an intermediate port.

China's container ports in 2025

The PRC Ministry of Transport (MOT), China's national transport regulator, publishes annual container throughput for every port. Its 2025 table, released on 30 January 2026, reports that China's ports handled 354.47 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard measure of container volume) in 2025, up 6.8% year on year: 311.98 million TEU at coastal ports and 42.48 million TEU at inland ports. The figures below are drawn from the MOT 2025 throughput table; the table reports in units of 10,000 TEU, converted here.

Port	2025 throughput (million TEU)	Change vs 2024	Notes
Shanghai	55.06	+6.9%	China's largest container port
Ningbo-Zhoushan	43.87	+11.6%	Fastest growth among the majors
Shenzhen	35.41	+6.0%	Includes Yantian, Shekou and Chiwan
Qingdao	32.89	+6.5%
Guangzhou	27.68	+6.2%	Includes Nansha
Tianjin	24.03	+3.2%
Xiamen	12.51	+2.1%

Two cautions apply to the MOT figures. First, they are port-wide totals covering all terminals, domestic as well as foreign trade, and transshipment; they are not China–US volumes. Second, MOT does not split them by terminal. Shenzhen is reported as one port, so Yantian is part of the Shenzhen total rather than a separate city or a separate line, and Nansha sits inside the Guangzhou figure. No official statistic showing which Chinese ports ship most to the US was found.

The trans-Pacific trade lane

UNCTAD's Review of Maritime Transport 2025 sizes the lane China–US cargo moves on. East Asia to North America eastbound containerized trade was 23.8 million TEU in 2024, up 14.7% from 2023, and UNCTAD projected 24.2 million TEU for 2025 (+1.7%). Westbound, North America to East Asia, was 6.4 million TEU in 2024. The 2025 figure is a trend-based projection from MDS Transmodal data as of 12 June 2025, and the lane covers all of East Asia, not China alone.

The lane was volatile in 2025. UNCTAD reports that "over 80 blank sailings on the trans-Pacific route were reported in April" after the 2 April 2025 US tariff announcements, and, citing press reports, that container throughput in China "had fallen by 6.1 per cent by mid-April." A blank sailing is a scheduled vessel call that a carrier cancels; cargo booked on it moves to a later sailing.

US gateway ports

The most recent port-level figures from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), in its Port Performance Freight Statistics: 2025 Annual Report, use 2022 data. In that year 110 US ports handled 45.7 million loaded TEU, of which 66% were imports, 24% exports and 10% domestic. East Coast ports handled 47% and West Coast ports 41%.

The ten largest by loaded TEU in 2022 (BTS Table 4) were New York/New Jersey (6.66 million), Los Angeles (6.42 million), Long Beach (6.09 million), Savannah (4.33 million), Houston (3.25 million), Virginia (2.86 million), Charleston (2.13 million), Oakland (1.79 million), Tacoma (1.52 million) and Seattle (1.09 million). These are totals from all origins, not China alone. Newer port-authority figures exist but were not collected for this page.

The gateways divide by route:

West Coast (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma) receives direct trans-Pacific services, the shortest ocean crossing, and feeds inland destinations by rail.
East and Gulf Coast (New York/New Jersey, Savannah, Virginia, Charleston, Houston) receives all-water services from Asia, eastbound through the Panama Canal or westbound through the Suez Canal.

The cheapest port pair is not always the cheapest route. An East Coast all-water service is longer at sea, but for an East Coast consignee it avoids a transcontinental rail move.

USTR port fees on China-linked vessels

In April 2025 the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) concluded its Section 301 investigation of China's targeting of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors and announced fees on China-linked ships calling at US ports (90 FR 17114, published 23 April 2025). The fees took effect on 14 October 2025:

vessels owned or operated by Chinese entities: $50 per net ton, scheduled to rise to $80 (April 2026), $110 (April 2027) and $140 (April 2028), charged up to five times per vessel per year;
operators of Chinese-built vessels: the higher of $18 per net ton or $120 per container discharged, scheduled to rise in steps to $33 or $250 by 2028, with exemptions including vessels of 4,000 TEU or less and ships arriving empty.

The action was modified on 16 October 2025 (90 FR 48320) and then suspended from 10 November 2025 through 9 November 2026 (90 FR 50947), following the US–China arrangement announced after the 30 October 2025 meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi. Because of the suspension, the scheduled 2026 increases did not take effect. On 26 October 2026 USTR proposed to "further suspend that action for two months, through January 9, 2027" (91 FR 67388), with comments due 30 October 2026. As of 30 October 2026 that extension was proposed, not final.

The fees fall on vessel operators, not on cargo importers. Any cost to an importer would arrive indirectly, as a carrier surcharge, and whether carriers would pass the fees through is a pricing decision the sources do not document. For scale, Clarksons Research, cited by UNCTAD, estimated that about 7% of 2024 US port calls by internationally trading ships would have fallen under the revised fee scheme proposed in June 2025. That is a preliminary estimate of applicability, made before the October modification and the November suspension, not a count of fees collected.

US filings and the cost structure of an ocean shipment

Two US filings gate an ocean shipment from China. The Importer Security Filing (ISF, also called 10+2) requires most of its importer data elements no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden on the vessel at the foreign port (19 CFR 149.2(b)). After arrival, a customs entry, normally filed by a licensed customs broker, secures release. Drayage (short-haul trucking from the port) or rail then completes the move.

Freight costs are quoted as a stack of components rather than a single figure:

base ocean freight, on a contract or spot basis;
bunker (fuel) surcharges;
peak-season and emergency surcharges;
origin and destination terminal handling;
chassis and drayage;
demurrage and detention, charged when containers stay at the terminal or with the importer beyond free time;
customs brokerage and bonds;
duties and US user fees.

Two of the user fees are fixed in regulation. The Harbor Maintenance Fee is 0.125% of the value of commercial cargo unloaded at listed US ports (19 CFR 24.24). For fiscal year 2027 the Merchandise Processing Fee on formal entries is 0.3464% with a $34.58 minimum and $670.86 maximum, effective 1 October 2026 (CBP Dec. 26-14). Freight rates themselves move with the market and are not stated here.

Common mistakes when shipping from China to the US

Citing outdated port rankings. Trade-press "top ports" lists often mix years; use the MOT annual table and state the year.
Treating Yantian and Shenzhen as different places. Yantian is one port area of Shenzhen, which MOT reports as a single port.
Believing importers pay the Section 301 port fees. USTR's notice places them on vessel operators.
Describing the port fees as in effect in late 2026. They have been suspended since 10 November 2025; status after 9 November 2026 depends on USTR's final decision.
Choosing a port pair on ocean cost alone. The inland leg, by rail from the West Coast or by truck from an East Coast port, can change which route is cheaper door to door.
Missing the ISF deadline. The 24-hours-before-lading requirement means the importer's data must be ready while the goods are still in China.

Frequently asked questions

What is the biggest port in China?

Shanghai is China's largest container port, handling 55.06 million TEU in 2025, up 6.9%, according to the PRC Ministry of Transport's annual table published 30 January 2026. Ningbo-Zhoushan was second at 43.87 million TEU and grew fastest among the major ports, at 11.6%. Shenzhen, which includes Yantian, was third at 35.41 million TEU.

Which Chinese ports ship the most to the US?

No official statistic gives China–US volumes by Chinese port. The Ministry of Transport table reports total throughput for each port, including domestic and transshipment boxes, and UNCTAD reports the whole East Asia to North America lane, 23.8 million TEU in 2024, without a port breakdown. Rankings that claim otherwise should name their source.

Which US ports handle the most containers?

New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles and Long Beach led in 2022, with 6.66 million, 6.42 million and 6.09 million loaded TEU respectively, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' 2025 annual report. Those figures count cargo from all origins, not only China, and 2022 is the latest year in that report.

Are the US port fees on Chinese ships in effect?

No. As of 30 October 2026, USTR's Section 301 port fees on China-linked vessels are suspended, a suspension that began 10 November 2025 and runs through 9 November 2026 under 90 FR 50947. On 26 October 2026 USTR proposed extending it through 9 January 2027 (91 FR 67388); that extension was not yet final.

Do importers pay the Section 301 port fee?

Not directly. USTR's April 2025 notice places the fee on vessel operators, which determine and pay it, not on the importer of the cargo. An importer could see a cost only if a carrier passes the fee through as a surcharge, which is a carrier pricing decision. While the action is suspended, no fee is being charged.

How is ocean freight from China to the US charged?

Ocean freight is charged as a stack of components: base freight under a contract or spot rate, fuel and peak-season surcharges, terminal handling at both ends, drayage, demurrage and detention, brokerage, bonds, duties and US user fees. Only the user fees are fixed in regulation, such as the 0.125% Harbor Maintenance Fee; freight rates move with the market.

Shipping from China to the USA