Port of Long Beach is busiest US port in March

Although volumes were down compared to 2025, the Port of Long Beach was the busiest port in the United States in March 2026, according to Noel Hacegaba, CEO of the Port of Long Beach.

March Volumes

Speaking at the Port’s media briefing on April 15th, Hacegaba said:

“The Port of Long Beach led the nation as the busiest container port for the month of March. While not our strongest March on record, we handled nearly 775,000 TEUs, making us the busiest gateway in North America. Now that is a 5.2% dip from the same month last year, thanks to tariffs. Global supply chain pressures are indeed mounting due to the Mideast conflict, but March's figures locally were not affected.”

Hacegaba said the volume breakdown was as follows: “Imports were flat, down 1.5% to nearly 375,000 TEUs. Exports ticked up a half percent to more than 100,000 TEUs, and empty containers declined 11% to 296,000 TEUs.”

Long Beach was also the busiest port for the first quarter of 2026: “For the first quarter through the first three months of 2026, the Port of Long Beach is number one for Q1, leading all other U.S. ports with nearly 2.5 million TEUs. Yes, we are down 8.6% from Q1 of 2025, but we are still the busiest port in North America. And as I said, these levels of cargo are due to the (Iran) war and the disruption that it brings.”

Hacegaba noted that because of the Iran War, major ocean carriers, “including MSC, CMA/ CGM, Ocean Network Express, Maersk, and others are implementing fuel surcharges and higher rates across key trade lines. At the same time, shippers are adjusting how they move cargo to manage costs and avoid congestion.”

Hacegaba also reported that:

• Amazon is adding a 3.5% seller surcharge for fuel and logistics.
• The US Postal Service plans to launch an 8% temporary increase.
• UPS and FedEx have also announced fuel surcharges of their own.

On the trucking side, he said, trucking fuel surcharges are up 25%:

“The Harbor Trucking Association, which serves the West Coast, says these fuel surcharges may be preventing some local motor carriers from recovering costs (as) they continue to move goods through the San Pedro Bay Ports complex. And here is the bottom line. What happens in the supply chain does not stay in the supply chain. It shows up in the price people pay every day. Not just higher price tags, but fewer discounts, higher free shipping thresholds, and slower delivery times.”

There were two pieces of good news that Hacegaba reported:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “allocated nearly $70 million to the Port of Long Beach from the Federal Harbor Maintenance Tax Fund, a record investment. This funding will strengthen critical infrastructure, improve safety, and enhance efficiency as we continue to build the Port of the future here in Long Beach. It is part of a broader $148 million package shared with the Port of Los Angeles.”

The Port has “reinvested more than $62 million in zero emissions trucks and infrastructure.”

Hacegaba said he recently visited the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada: “They're building a Class 8 heavy-duty electric truck with up to 500 miles of range and the ability to recover up to 60% of a full charge in 30 minutes. This technology is advancing quickly, and driver interest is growing. It's a game changer for truckers.”

Impact on Retailers

Hacegaba’s guest on the media briefing was Jonathan Gold, Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy for the National Retail Federation.

Gold reported that “…our latest Global Port Tracker for April 2026 … forecast is for imports at major US container ports expected to remain below last year's levels for at least the first half of 2026. The forecast currently extends through August.”

He added that import volume at major US container ports is not being “significantly affected by the conflict in Iran. But ocean carriers are seeing related increases in fuel costs that could eventually affect retailers and their customers. Just because retailers do not import a lot of merchandise from the Middle East does not mean the U.S. supply chain is not affected by the turmoil there. The supply chain is global, and disruptions anywhere along it can have ripple effects, whether it is rerouting of vessels, equipment out of position, higher fuel cost for shippers, or rising gas prices that … leave less money in consumers’ pockets … Retailers continue to monitor the situation daily and are working with their transportation partners to minimize any impact.”

Gold noted that: “With the ruling by the Supreme Court in February, importers are no longer paying the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) tariffs. However, importers are still paying a wide range of other tariffs from the normal baseline most favored nation tariffs to the Section 232 tariffs the administration put in place last year in a wide variety of goods, from steel, aluminum, copper, automobiles, wooden furniture, including kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. On top of that, we have the still-existing Section 301 tariffs on China that were implemented during the first Trump administration and the new Section 122 10% tariff that went into effect, which is going to be short-term until late July. You know, those 10% tariffs were put in place … once the IEEPA tariffs were ruled illegal. But again, they are temporary until we get through some of these other Section 301 investigations, which were announced on structural excess capacity and forced labor, which could result in additional tariffs… this summer.”

Refunds Expected

Gold said that importers and retailers are entitled to refunds as a result of the Supreme Court striking down the legality of the IEEPA tariffs: “I believe all importers of record who are eligible for refunds or expected to get a refund as directed by the decisions from the Court of International Trade. We continue to follow CBP (Customs and Border Protection) as they're set to roll out their phase one … which is set to go live on April 20th next week. It is going to be a slow process, I think, to start as they work through issues. But I think importers of all sizes are really looking at the system, trying to understand it, trying to make sure they are able to get back the money that was illegally taken from them because of the IEEPA tariffs. But we'll see how that goes.”

In the meantime, Gold said that US retailers “…continue to face rising tariffs and continue trade policy uncertainty that put downward pressure on imports and upward pressure on prices. We still see a strong consumer demand in 2026. The consumer remains the bright spot in our economy despite all the various policy and geopolitical challenges that we are facing … We released our annual retail sales forecast a couple of weeks ago and believe we will see an increase in retail sales of 4.4% in 2026. However, we recognize there are ongoing headwinds, including the situation in the Middle East, that could certainly impact consumer spending in the future.”