How the Government Shutdown Affects Shippers Importing & Exporting Goods

Here we go again. We have a government shutdown as Democrats, wanting to show strong opposition to the Trump Administration, refuse to pass the Republican-led spending bill that would keep the government open. The last time we saw this was in 2018, during President Trump’s first term, when Democrats refused to pass a bill that included funding for the border wall. That was the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, lasting 35 days.

Hopefully, this shutdown will be much shorter. Republicans have three Democrat votes for passing the spending bill. Right now, they need five more – or four if Senator Rand Paul, the one Republican to vote against the budget, to change his vote too. Unfortunately, Democrats and Republicans working together feels rarer and rarer these days, so there’s no telling how long it will take for a deal to be made that ends the shutdown.

While essential operations from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) remain active during the shutdown, international shipping is still impacted for American importers and exporters. During the shutdown, there will be CBP and government support functions that are paused or severely understaffed. This can create delays, uncertainty, and added costs for U.S. shippers.

This had Border Trade Alliance President Ms. Britton Mullen, among many others, releasing a statement, pleading with Congress to prevent this shutdown:

Furloughs, reduced staffing, and any service interruptions would create costly delays and jeopardize economic stability on both sides of the border. Just as concerning, our frontline Customs and Border Protection personnel, who are already stretched thin, would be forced to work without pay, further straining morale, recruitment, and retention.

The Border Trade Alliance urges the U.S. Senate to swiftly pass a continuing resolution to ensure that our hardworking professionals in cross-border security and trade can continue to do their jobs without a lapse in pay.

Preventing a shutdown is essential for trade, security, and the economic well-being of the entire country.

Obviously, the Senate didn’t heed her pleas or those of near countless other organizations and citizens, so let’s get into how the shutdown likely impacts American shippers’ importing and exporting.

Customs Clearance Delays

As stated already, CBP operations do continue during the shutdown, but they can be severely hampered. Tariffs will still be collected, but the processing of goods going through the nation’s ports will likely be slowed.

While CBP officers still process goods at ports and borders, Partner Government Agencies (PGAs), such as the FDA, EPA, and USDA, are either operating with skeleton crews or completely furloughed. For shippers, this likely means:

• Longer wait times for documentation and inspections
• Delays in clearing shipments (especially perishables and pharmaceuticals)
• Increased risk of spoilage or missed delivery windows

Many are suggesting shippers hold back on non-essential shipments.

Port Operations and Dwell Times

Ports are open, but the government shutdown can create staffing shortages in places and slow the movement of goods through them. During the 2018 shutdown, dwell times at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach rose by 15–20%. If the shutdown doesn’t end extremely quickly, similar dwell time increases are likely at ports around the country.

Delays would be expected for cargo moving through airports as well as ocean ports, but we’ll touch on that in just a moment.

Ports will likely see delays from a few days to a week initially. However, those delays could rise significantly if the shutdown drags on.

Export Licensing and Trade Enforcement

International Trade Insights reports that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is suspending most export license processing and commodity classification requests. Only emergency licenses tied to national security will be reviewed at this time.

“BIS will generally cease processing active license applications… except those involving trade and economic national security.”

Antidumping and countervailing duty litigation is being paused as well. Deadlines for this will be extended until after the government reopens.

Air Cargo and Trucking

TSA staff will be unpaid during the shutdown. While air cargo screening will continue, this raises concerns about absenteeism. Slowdowns in the screening process are expected.

For trucking onboarding new drivers, there will be delays due to paused background checks and compliance reviews.

Railroads keep running, but customs bottlenecks at the ports and Southern and Northern borders are expected to ripple down the lines, slowing or disrupting supply chains.

Warehousing and Retail Impact

Warehouses will likely see uneven flows. A major risk here is they will be underutilized during slowdowns during the shutdown and then overwhelmed when backlogs clear. Retailers who have strict delivery windows will be under high stress and have to work carefully with their logistics providers to minimize the disruption.

Conclusion

If the government shutdown ends quickly, international shipping delays will be limited. Obviously, the longer the shutdowns go on, delays will turn into bigger and bigger disruptions. When disruptions happen at international shipping hubs, they tend to ripple through whole supply chains. And that certainly wouldn’t be limited to the supply chains of U.S. shippers.

Disruptions at U.S. ports ripple through international trade lanes. They can tie up ships, shrinking shipping capacity, and push freight rates higher. That’ll be another thing we’ll be keeping an eye on here at Universal Cargo.

With 30+ years as a trusted freight forwarder, Universal Cargo’s team is always ready to help shippers get through whatever challenges present themselves in the international shipping industry. And here in the blog, we like to keep you informed about what’s happening in the industry, whether that’s tariffs, shutdowns, or freight rates spiking or falling.