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U.S. importers are entering a period in which customs compliance, carrier capacity management and geopolitical risk must be evaluated together.

Three CBP dates—September 18, September 22 and October 22—will affect different types of importers and international mail shipments. At the same time, record summer cargo volumes at the Port of Los Angeles and additional Transpacific blank sailings suggest that the U.S. import peak season has not ended as early as some importers expected.

Higher oil prices, Panama Canal transit restrictions and continued Middle East shipping risks are also raising the cost floor for global transportation.

1. CBP’s Three-Step Import Compliance Calendar

The three upcoming CBP dates do not apply to the same shipments. Importers should avoid treating them as one broad customs rule.

September 18: Form 5106 Accuracy Enforcement

Beginning September 18, CBP may void an Importer of Record number when the information submitted through CBP Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete.

Importers should verify that their legal business name, tax identification number, physical address, email address and telephone number are current and belong directly to the importer. Using a broker’s, freight forwarder’s, service center’s or unrelated third party’s contact information may create additional compliance risk.

A voided IOR number cannot be used to make entry until it has been reestablished. That could interrupt customs clearance and create demurrage, detention or storage exposure for cargo already in transit.

This article does not repeat the broader questions of whether foreign IOR structures or DDP shipping are legal. Those issues are covered in Yunxi’s existing Importer of Record guide: 2026 U.S. Importer of Record Changes.

The practical action this week is straightforward: importers should review the identity information already on file with CBP and coordinate any necessary update with a licensed customs broker.

September 22: Entry Type 13 Voluntary Test Begins

Entry Type 13 is a new electronic informal entry process in the Automated Commercial Environment, or ACE. The voluntary test begins on September 22.

It is designed for qualifying merchandise:

• Entering through the international postal network
• Valued at $2,500 or less
• Eligible for informal entry
• Properly filed by an owner, purchaser or authorized licensed customs broker

Entry Type 13 does not automatically apply to ordinary ocean freight, air cargo, express courier shipments or commercial LCL and FCL entries simply because their value is below $2,500.

Participating filers must transmit information including the IOR number, merchandise description, country of origin, 10-digit HTSUS classification, value, duty information, carrier, postal tracking number and arrival port. A qualifying customs bond is also required. Shipments subject to antidumping or countervailing duties or quotas remain ineligible and must use formal entry procedures.

October 22: Delayed Postal Compliance Window Ends

On October 22, the delayed compliance period ends for specified merchandise arriving through the international postal network.

The affected categories include certain mail shipments:

• Subject to Partner Government Agency requirements
• Subject to Chapter 98 or Chapter 99 duties
• Claiming Chapter 98 duty treatment
• Claiming preferential treatment under a Free Trade Agreement

Depending on eligibility, filers may need to use formal entry procedures or participate in the Entry Type 13 test.

For cross-border sellers that rely heavily on individual postal parcels, this creates a strategic question: should they continue with postal fulfillment, establish an Entry Type 13 filing process, or shift suitable inventory into consolidated commercial imports and U.S. fulfillment?

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2. The U.S. Import Peak Season Is Extending Into September

The latest official cargo data does not support the assumption that the U.S. import market has already entered a broad post-peak slowdown.

The Port of Los Angeles processed 955,907 TEUs in August 2026, completing the busiest three consecutive months in the port’s history. More than 2.9 million TEUs moved through the port during June, July and August.

August loaded imports reached 500,302 TEUs, approximately level with the previous year and 7% above the port’s five-year August average. During the first eight months of 2026, total volume exceeded 7 million TEUs—1.5% above the same period in 2025.

The port attributed the strong summer to resilient consumer demand, early holiday shipments and a broad cargo mix. It also indicated that September was developing into another strong month.

Why Strong Demand and Blank Sailings Can Exist at the Same Time

High cargo volume does not prevent carriers from canceling sailings.

Carriers manage available capacity to protect vessel utilization and freight rates. When expected cargo demand changes around Golden Week, they may remove selected voyages even while overall import volumes remain strong.

Drewry reported 79 blank sailings across the major East-West trades between September 14 and October 18, representing 11% of 721 scheduled sailings. The eastbound Transpacific accounts for 52% of those cancellations.

This combination creates an important distinction:

• Demand data shows how much cargo is moving.
• Blank-sailing data shows how much scheduled capacity carriers are making available.
• Freight rates are influenced by the balance between the two.

A strong import market combined with targeted capacity reductions can keep space tight even when the traditional seasonal peak is approaching its end.

Three Possible Post-Golden Week Rate Scenarios

These are planning scenarios, not guaranteed forecasts. Importers should make decisions using route-specific quotations and current sailing availability rather than relying on a single global index.

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3. Oil, Panama and Middle East Shipping Risks Raise the Cost Floor

Three risk factors are now affecting global freight planning at the same time.

Panama Canal Transit Capacity Has Been Reduced

Effective September 15, the Panama Canal reduced Panamax availability to 23 daily slots, while Neopanamax capacity remains at nine slots per day.

The restriction does not mean every Asia-U.S. East Coast container service will be delayed. However, it reduces the system’s ability to absorb late vessel arrivals, demand spikes or schedule recovery problems.

The Panama Canal Authority warns that vessels without confirmed reservations may face longer waiting times and states that a confirmed reservation is the only mechanism that guarantees a transit date.

Importers should therefore monitor services to New York/New Jersey, Savannah, Charleston, Norfolk and Gulf Coast gateways at the individual vessel and voyage level.

Higher Oil Prices Can Affect Multiple Freight Modes

Oil prices rose sharply after attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure interrupted the East-West Pipeline and increased concern about energy supplies and Middle East shipping routes.

Higher oil prices do not immediately create an identical surcharge across every shipment. The effect is transmitted through several mechanisms:

• Ocean carrier bunker adjustment factors
• Airline fuel surcharges
• Drayage and long-haul trucking costs
• Rail and intermodal operating expenses
• Warehousing and final-mile distribution costs

The timing and size of the increase depend on carrier formulas, contract adjustment periods and the duration of the energy disruption.

Red Sea Risk Can Indirectly Affect Transpacific Capacity

Red Sea disruption primarily affects Asia-Europe and Middle East routings, but its effects do not remain isolated to those lanes.

Longer diversions can require more vessels to maintain the same weekly service. That reduces the number of ships available for deployment elsewhere and can affect container positioning, charter rates and global schedule reliability.

For U.S. importers, the key issue is not whether a China-U.S. vessel physically sails through the Red Sea. The wider question is whether global network disruption changes the vessels, equipment and operating costs available to Transpacific services.

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4. Why a Stable Global Freight Index Can Mislead Importers

Drewry’s World Container Index stood at $4,476 per 40-foot container on September 10, broadly unchanged from the previous week.

However, the route-level data moved in different directions:

• Transpacific rates increased approximately 2%.
• Transatlantic rates increased approximately 2%.
• Asia-Europe and Mediterranean rates declined approximately 3%.

A global composite index combines multiple trade lanes. Falling rates on one lane can offset rising rates on another, producing a stable headline number even when the cost of shipping from China to the United States is increasing.

What Importers Should Compare Instead

When evaluating a China-U.S. freight quotation, importers should compare:

• The same origin and destination port pair
• The same container type
• The same carrier or service level
• Comparable transit time and routing
• Included and excluded surcharges
• Free-time terms
• Final-mile or intermodal costs
• The quotation’s validity period

A lower headline ocean rate may not produce a lower landed logistics cost if it includes slower service, limited free time, a higher rollover risk or expensive destination delivery.

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What U.S. Importers Should Do Now

For the remainder of September, importers should focus on five actions:

1. Verify IOR information before September 18. Review Form 5106 data and confirm that the contact and identity information belongs directly to the importer.
2. Determine whether Entry Type 13 applies. Do not assume it applies to ocean, air or courier shipments. It is specifically designed for qualifying international mail.
3. Protect critical Transpacific capacity. Confirm October bookings and establish backup sailings for inventory with fixed delivery requirements.
4. Use route-specific market data. Do not use a stable global freight index as proof that China-U.S. rates are declining.
5. Build fuel and chokepoint risk into the logistics budget. Compare East Coast all-water, West Coast intermodal and selective airfreight options based on total landed cost and required delivery dates.

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Conclusion

The September market is being shaped by more than freight demand alone. CBP enforcement is increasing the importance of accurate importer data, postal entry procedures are changing, U.S. imports remain strong, and carriers are removing capacity ahead of Golden Week.

At the same time, Panama Canal restrictions, higher oil prices and Middle East shipping risks are creating additional uncertainty for freight costs and schedule reliability.

The best response is not to move every shipment through the fastest or cheapest route. Importers should separate critical and flexible inventory, verify customs data, compare route-level costs and maintain realistic backup plans.

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Authoritative References

• Federal Register: Accuracy of Importer of Record Data Submitted to CBP
• CBP Form 5106 — Create/Update Importer Identity Form
• Federal Register: Entry Type 13 Test
• Federal Register: Postal Informal Entry Rule
• Port of Los Angeles: Best Three-Month Cargo Stretch in Port History
• Drewry Cancelled Sailings Tracker
• Drewry World Container Index
• Panama Canal Authority: September 2026 Capacity Measures
• Reuters: Oil Prices Rise as Saudi Pipeline Outage Raises Supply Concerns