The Port of Los Angeles moved 1M containers in July

The Port of Los Angeles moved 1,019,837 container units in July, which surpassed its May 2021 pandemic high mark, according to Eugene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles.

Speaking at the Port of Los Angeles media briefing on August 13^th, Seroka said: “No other port in the Western Hemisphere has moved over a million containers in a single month. Now we've done it twice. This achievement is reflected in the data as July volume outpaced last year by 8 1/2% “

He added that:” We had 107 vessel calls in July, 30% more than average over the past five years, 16 of those ships at a capacity over 13,000 TEUs, setting another all-time mark. We saw 11 unscheduled ship arrivals, known as extra loaders, the most since the pandemic.”

Seroka said the volumes were driven by companies getting ahead of tariff hikes:” Not surprisingly, much of this volume was fueled by importers hustling to bring in cargo ahead of potential tariff hikes later this month and beyond. “

Seroka noted rises in imports and exports: “… our July imports soared to 544,000 TEUS, setting yet another benchmark at the Port of Los Angeles that outpaces last year by 8% and is 19% higher than our July five-year average. Shifting over to exports, the Port handled 122,000 TEUS, a 6% year-over-year increase.”

AG Export Concerns

However, Seroka noted that the increase in U.S. agricultural exports might be short-lived: “While that makes just two months of incremental upticks, there's concern among Ag sector and other exporters about the impact of trade policy on American goods headed overseas.”

Port of Long Beach

Meanwhile, next door, the Port of Long Beach had its most active July on record and the third-busiest month in its 114-year history.

The Port processed 944,232 twenty-foot equivalent units in July, up 7% from the previous record set in July 2024. Imports rose 7.6% to 468,081 TEUs, and exports declined 12.9% to 91,328 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the Port increased 12.3% to 384,824 TEUs.

“Retailers are now seeing the arrival of goods that were purchased for lower costs during the temporary pause placed on tariffs and retaliatory tariffs earlier this year,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “Due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by shifting trade policies, our Supply Chain Information Highway digital tracking tool forecasts that cargo will be down about 10 percent in the second half of 2025, resulting in a flat year for volume.”

Slow Down

Cordero’s analysis was echoed by Seroka, who noted that the high volumes of cargo coming in and out of the port may be coming to an end: “Looking at key data from the Port Optimizer (cargo predictor) and talking to many importers, it seems likely that goods coming into the U.S. may have just peaked. A lot of inventory is already here … but from where I sit, I don't expect a flood of cargo. Despite all the trade announcements coming out of Washington.”

Seroka warned about the proliferation of tariff hikes on trade and the U.S. economy:

“There are new tariffs now on more than 90 countries. They went into effect last Thursday, pushing the effective U.S. tariff rates to the highest point in nearly a century. China's tariff rate was extended just Monday of this week for another 90 days with an effective tariff rate of 55%. Trade framework deals were announced recently with the European Union. Japan has 15% tariffs. Some believe that it could have been a lot worse. South Korea came in at 15%, while Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines negotiated a 19% tariff rate. Vietnam and Taiwan sat at 20%. These framework deals represent taxes on imports to the United States for American goods manufactured overseas and beyond. The framework deals with those letters that were announced; both India and Brazil now sit at 50% tariffs.”

The cumulative effect: “All this means higher prices, fewer selections, and probably lower inventories as we look to the back half of this year.”

New Tariffs Not Helping U.S. Manufacturers

Seroka’s guest in August was Dr. Zachary Rogers, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management, Colorado State University, who noted: “We haven't seen the big price increases yet, but early indicators look like we are going to start seeing those more at the consumer level.”

Rogers noted that the pattern of Trump administration tariff hikes so far has been to encourage more finished goods imports from abroad rather than encouraging more U.S. component manufacturing in the United States:

“We've seen an uptick in finished goods coming in versus components, partly because right now the tariffs are heaviest on the components. I mean, you bring in a car from Japan, 15%, (but) you bring the components in to build it ….Well, Canada and Mexico are 25% or 30%, China … 50%, … Korea 40% …You have all that sort of math or just 15% … in a Japanese car, you're probably just going to go with the Japanese car. And it seems like from the folks that we're talking to, there's going to be a little more focus on finished goods than there have been … on components.”