The port saw an 18.4% increase in volumes in March, partially driven by shippers moving cargo before anticipated tariffs.
SEATTLE — As the Trump administration continues to impose up to 145% tariffs on most Chinese imports and as smaller tariffs on additional countries, a post is circulating online claiming the Port of Seattle is a “ghost town” because of it.
The post, shared Sunday, reads in part, “Not a single international cargo ship at the Port of Seattle. The port is effectively dead.”
Our sources are The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which manages all marine cargo operations for the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma, and Vessel Finder, which tracks vessel positions in real time.
According to both sources, three international cargo ships were docked Monday in the Port of Seattle. One is registered in Portugal, one in Singapore, and the third in Hong Kong.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance told KING 5 that 15 more cargo ships are expected to pass between the Port of Seattle (nine for Seattle) and the Port of Tacoma over the next week. Twelve of those ships are expected to contain goods from China.
The Seaport Alliance said port traffic in Seattle is up 7.3% in the last 30 days. The port saw an 18.4% increase in volumes in March, partially driven by shippers moving cargo before anticipated tariffs.
Northwest Seaport Alliance Port of Seattle Commissioner, Ryan Calkins, said the future does not look as good.
“The last forecast I saw was forecasting out over the next three months, and each month was forecasted to be down around 25% per month,” Calkins said.
The Seaport Alliance said some ships are coming in with less cargo than anticipated. In some cases, it is 30% lower.
“Unfortunately, we are beginning to see a reduction in the total number of containers coming off any particular vessel when they come in,” Calkins said.
The organization said its imports and exports have been impacted. It told KING 5 it is hearing reports of canceled U.S. export orders, which are leaving some businesses scrambling to find other markets to send their goods to.
“Unfortunately hearing stories right now of our agricultural exporters having to come back to the terminal and pick up containers full of agricultural exports to return back and store them as they wait for a customer because the sale that they had made to an overseas customer was canceled as a result of the tariff war,” Calkin said.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance said two of its commissioners will be in Vietnam and South Korea this week, working to build business back from those countries.
“Those are growth markets for us, and we want to strengthen those relationships,” Calkin said.
He said he hopes there is a resolution in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China soon.
“If we don’t get a resolution quickly, I think we’re all going to feel a lot of pain in the pocketbook,” Calkin said.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance said the Port of Seattle is not a “ghost town,” but it will be closely watching what happens in the next couple of weeks.
