Following the Panama Canal expansion in 2016, up to 10 percent of container traffic to the U.S. from East Asia could shift from West Coast ports to East Coast ports by 2020, according to research conducted by the Boston Consulting Group and C.H. Robinson. Rerouting that volume is equivalent to building a port roughly double the size of the ports in Savannah and Charleston.

Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports has returned to normal levels following ratification of a new West Coast labor agreement, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled 39 percent of U.S. container imports in 2002, but that figure fell to 32 percent by 2013, according to U.S. census data. They have lost business to competitors at a time when, overall, global trade is booming and imports are rising at all ports, including L.A. and Long Beach. And the ports are losing out to others that can handle larger vessels.

Import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is returning to normal levels as officials prepare to count votes on ratification of a new West Coast labor agreement that ended months of uncertainty, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

A roof-raising trade gap in March highlighted concerns that the rise of the dollar against other currencies was weakening the economy, chipping away at the ability of American manufacturers to compete abroad while encouraging more imports to fill retailers' shelves.

The 2014 retail landscape could be characterized as bipolar, according to the 5th Annual State of the Retail Supply Chain Report from Auburn University and the Retail Industry Leaders Association.