Some frontloading ahead of a now-averted ILA port strike after January 15th and expectations of tariff increases next year have kept transpacific ocean rates elevated to start December, with rates to the West Coast – even before the Lunar New Year 2025 rush – already above their pre-LNY 2024 highs seen back in January at the start of the Red Sea crisis.

However, the arrival window to move shipments from Asia to the East Coast before the strike deadline is closing, a significant number of inventories were already built up from frontloading ahead of the October strike, and there is likely still a runway of at least several months before tariffs go into effect. These factors make future rate increases difficult to sustain, though prices could increase early in January ahead of the Lunar New Year.