Before Covid-19, the cost to ship a 40ft container from Shanghai to the Port of LA had generally been slightly below $2,000. Soon after Covid-19 appeared, shipping costs doubled to $4,000, where they stayed through the first four months of 2021. They then increased explosively and by late 2021 the price peaked at slightly above $12,000. Since then, the price has steadily fallen and is now just below $7,000.