Freight and Trade Update, Mid-October 2026: Rates Ease, CBP Targets Low-Value Entries

As of 13 October 2026, four things moved for shippers and forwarders in the week since our last updates. Container spot rates eased after China's Golden Week, with Drewry's World Container Index down 2% to $4,351 per 40ft on 8 October. US Customs and Border Protection published a proposed rule on 8 October that would require every informal entry of $2,500 or less to be filed electronically by the time the goods arrive, backed by a customs bond. USTR confirmed on 7 October that the China Section 301 tariffs did not lapse at their four-year anniversaries. And attacks on merchant ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz intensified, with six vessels, including a container ship, reported struck on 11 October. One thing did not move: no notice has extended the suspension of US port fees on China-linked ships, which still ends on 9 November.

This is a dated snapshot that follows on from our early October container and air freight update and the October trade policy and customs update, both published on 6 October. Each fact below names the source we confirmed it from. Where only press reporting exists, we say who reported it, and our own reading is labelled as analysis.

What moved between 6 and 13 October 2026, at a glance

Container spot rates ease after Golden Week

Drewry's World Container Index fell 2% in the week to Thursday 8 October, which Drewry attributed to weaker transpacific and Asia-Europe rates "as demand weakened during China's Golden Week". The lane readings, against the 1 October figures we reported last week:

Drewry expects rates to "remain stable next week" on both trades, and called the "faster-than-expected return to the Suez route" the biggest threat to carriers' efforts to support rates.

The other benchmarks point the same way, with their own baskets and timing. Xeneta's update of 8 October put Far East to US West Coast at $8,336 per FEU and US East Coast at $11,512 on 7 October, with Far East to North Europe at $3,645 (down 2.5% on the week) and the Mediterranean at $4,007 (down 5.9%). Xeneta's chief analyst Peter Sand described "a first hint of a downward momentum" on the transpacific, noting the West Coast rate fell $2 on 7 October, and said of Asia-Europe that "we are not at the floor yet". Freightos's weekly update of 6 October put its Asia to US West Coast index at $8,322 per FEU, the East Coast level at $9,600, North Europe at $3,260 and the Mediterranean at $3,555. Do not mix figures across indices: our guide to the SCFI, WCI, FBX and XSI explains why the same lane reads differently on each.

Our analysis: one soft week during a Chinese holiday is not proof that transpacific rates have turned. US-bound rates remain far above where they were before the Hormuz crisis. What has changed is that the Asia-Europe slide, now about three months old on Xeneta's numbers, is meeting European tender season, which Sand flagged as welcome news for shippers negotiating long-term contracts.

Blank sailings fall as capacity returns

Drewry's Cancelled Sailings Tracker of 9 October counts 34 blank sailings expected between week 42 (12 to 18 October) and week 46 (9 to 15 November), out of 713 planned sailings on the main East-West trades: a 5% cancellation rate, so about 95% of scheduled sailings are expected to run. Half of the cancellations are on Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean, 32% on the transpacific eastbound and 18% on the transatlantic. In its WCI commentary Drewry counted four transpacific blank sailings announced for the following week, down from eleven, and six on Asia-Europe, up from five. If a sailing you booked is withdrawn, our explainer on blank and void sailings covers what usually happens to the booking.

On the Suez return itself, Freightos reported on 6 October that the Premier Alliance (ONE, HMM and Yang Ming), which it called the last holdout among the alliances and MSC, is moving some services back to Red Sea transits this month. The Loadstar, republished by gCaptain on 1 October, reported from ONE's pro forma schedule that the first FE1 Asia to North Europe sailing via Suez is the ONE Continuity, leaving Laem Chabang on 19 October and due through the canal on 9 November. Linerlytica, as reported elsewhere, gave 17 October as the departure date. These are carrier schedules, which can change.

Air cargo: holiday dip, strong September

WorldACD's weekly report of 12 October shows worldwide tonnage down 2% week on week in week 40 (28 September to 4 October), the second weekly fall, which WorldACD linked to public holidays in China and elsewhere in east Asia. Rates rose 1% on the week and spot rates were 32% above a year earlier. For September as a whole, WorldACD put worldwide tonnage up 9% year on year and full-market rates up 25%. China to US tonnage rose 17% year on year in September, with a China to US spot rate of $6.05 per kilo, while China and Hong Kong to Europe tonnage fell 10%.

Freightos's Air Index on 6 October showed the holiday more sharply: Far East to North America fell by more than 15% in the week to about $5.60 per kilo, and Far East to Europe fell 7% to $3.83. Freightos noted that data centre components are a significant driver of air demand growth even as e-commerce volumes contract in some major markets.

CBP proposes stricter rules for entries of $2,500 or less

This is the biggest regulatory item of the week for anyone moving low-value goods into the United States. On 8 October CBP published a notice of proposed rulemaking titled "Low-Value Shipments" (docket USCBP-2026-0298, RIN 1685-AA38), amending 19 CFR parts 113, 128, 141, 143 and 145. CBP's stated context: the $800 de minimis exemption has been suspended since at least 29 August 2025, CBP's June 2026 interim final rules made that suspension indefinite, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends the exemption on 1 July 2027. CBP expects the volume to move into informal entry rather than disappear. What it proposes:

• File by arrival, electronically. Informal entry type 11 would have to be filed electronically on or before the date of importation, instead of within 15 calendar days of arrival under 19 CFR 141.5.
• A new data element. The Final Deliver-To Party and its address, where different from the ultimate consignee.
• A bond on every informal entry. All type 11 and type 13 filers would need a basic importation and entry bond (single transaction or continuous), with liquidated damages of at least $1,000 per breach of a listed bond condition.
• Brokers as importer of record. A consignee that is not the owner or purchaser, which CBP says includes a freight forwarder, a carrier or a postal operator, would have to appoint a licensed customs broker to act as importer of record.
• A new mail entry type 13. Electronic informal entry for mail, with shipper or sender data, the carrier supplying the UPU S10 tracking number, and unentered mail articles deemed abandoned after 15 days.
• Section 232 goods could enter informally. The $250 cap on informal entry for goods under Chapter 99, Subchapters III and IV would go, so such goods valued up to $2,500 could use informal entry.
• Blanket formal entry. CBP could require formal entry by importer of record, manufacturer or category of goods, not only shipment by shipment.

The common misreading to avoid: none of this is in force. It is a proposal, comments close on 7 December 2026, and any final rule would set its own dates. Bona fide gifts keep their current entry procedures. CBP itself says the arrival deadline "could be disruptive" for filers who build entries from the package once it lands. For background on how the exemption was suspended, see our explainer on Section 321 de minimis and type 86 entry, and on bond types and amounts, our guide to US customs bonds.

China Section 301 tariffs continue, and port fees are still due back

On 7 October USTR published a notice confirming that the two 2018 actions that underpin the China Section 301 tariffs, as modified, did not terminate at their four-year anniversaries (6 July and 23 August 2026), because domestic industry representatives asked for them to continue: 68 producers and 18 associations for the July action, and 57 producers and 19 associations for the August action. USTR says it will now run the statutory review and publish a separate notice inviting comments. A review is not a phase-out; the tariffs stay in effect unless modified.

On port fees, nothing changed, and that is the news. USTR's suspension of fees on Chinese-owned, operated and built vessels runs to 11:59 p.m. Eastern on 9 November 2026. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in September that the wider US-China truce runs to 10 January 2027, but as of 13 October the Federal Register shows no USTR notice moving the port fee date, and we found none extending the Section 301 product exclusions that also run to 9 November. Our explainer on why the port fees are suspended, not gone covers how the fees would apply if they return.

Hormuz attacks intensify; one Red Sea incident

gCaptain reported on 12 October that six commercial vessels were struck in and around the Strait of Hormuz on 11 October, five tankers and an inbound container ship, citing UKMTO warnings, one of them a tanker hit by a drone at Sohar anchorage in Oman. The Joint Maritime Information Center kept its Hormuz threat level at SEVERE, its second-highest, and said attacks were spreading to anchorages and inside the Gulf. gCaptain cited US naval guidance data of about 29 transits a day over the prior 72 hours, against a historical average of roughly 138. Earlier in the week, Al Jazeera reported a tanker hit by several projectiles about 94 km north of Qatar on 7 October, with casualties reported by UKMTO. For Gulf-bound cargo, our Hormuz shipper playbook covers routing and documentation options.

In the Red Sea, Maritime Executive reported that the Chinese-operated containership CUL Klang was fired on by a small craft north of Bab el-Mandeb early on 7 October, per reports to the EU-sponsored maritime security centre. The crew was unhurt, the ship continued north, nobody claimed responsibility, and the report noted the craft may have been fishermen guarding nets. Drewry said on 9 October that services are still gradually returning to the Suez routing.

Also moved this week

• EU handling fee confirmed at 2 euros. The European Commission's customs reform page carries a 7 October item stating that from 1 November 2026 the EU will apply a 2 euro Union handling fee. Trade summaries report it is charged per item on distance sales; check the delegated regulation text before quoting it to customers. It sits beside the temporary 3 euro duty on low-value parcels that has applied since 1 July 2026.
• US import forecast. NRF's Global Port Tracker of 8 October projects 2.28 million TEU for September, 2.25 million for October and 2 million for November, and 25.8 million TEU for 2026, up 1.4%. NRF's Jonathan Gold said peak season "started early and was stretched out".
• USTR asks about EU CBAM. An 8 October notice seeks comments on the EU carbon border mechanism's effect on US trade by 9 November (docket USTR-2026-0661).
• US diesel tax deferral. Executive Order 14435, signed 5 October and published on 9 October, directs Treasury to defer certain federal diesel excise taxes incurred from 5 October to 31 December 2026, if authorised. We found no IRS implementing guidance as of 13 October, so do not assume lower trucking fuel costs yet.

What we do not know yet

• Whether transpacific spot rates have peaked, or whether the post-Golden Week dip is temporary.
• Whether USTR publishes a notice aligning the port fee suspension with the truce before 9 November.
• What CBP's final low-value rule will look like after comments, and when it would apply.
• Whether the Hormuz attacks reverse the recovery in Gulf transits. We did not review CBP's CSMS messages for this week, so check them directly for implementation notices.

What to do next

1. If you import goods valued at $2,500 or less into the US, read the CBP proposal with your broker, map which shipments would need a bond and arrival-time filing, and decide whether to comment by 7 December.
2. For US-bound cargo arriving after 9 November on China-linked vessels, get written confirmation from your carrier or forwarder of how a resumed port fee would be billed.
3. On Asia-Europe, use the falling spot market in contract talks, and compare tender and spot options before locking in 2027 rates.
4. For Gulf cargo, confirm current war-risk surcharges and routing with your carrier in writing before booking, because the situation changed day to day this week.

If you need a forwarder for a specific lane, more than 29,300 logistics companies are searchable by country and service in the CargoLinked directory, and the public requests board lists freight that shippers have posted for forwarders to quote on directly.

This update is general information as of 13 October 2026, not legal, tax, financial or customs advice. Rates, schedules, security conditions and regulations change quickly. Confirm the current position with the issuing authority, your carrier or a licensed customs broker before acting on it.