News / Congestion looms at US ports as shops and factories close and imports pile up

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The repercussions of Covid-19 have begun to hit US imports.

As retail outlets, as well as many manufacturing operations, in North America are shuttered, anticipation of a surge of imports to compensate for China’s extended lunar new year hiatus are quickly disappearing.

Instead, as more containers arrive, there are concerns about mounting storage costs.

US importers have not wasted time in shifting gear – having tried to speed-up deliveries from China a few weeks ago, they are now in reverse, trying to slow ...