Import Surge Drives Volume to a New Record at Port of Long Beach

 

Taking advantage of a six-month window between U.S. tariff hikes, importers surged boxes from East Asia into Southern California's gateway ports in July, sending Port of Long Beach's numbers to record levels for the month. However, the port thinks that the surge was a temporary response to policy incentives and will not boost annual performance.

Long Beach's terminals handled nearly 950,000 TEU worth of cargo, including nearly 470,000 TEU in imports and about 380,000 TEU in empties. Export containers - about a tenth of the port's business - declined by 13 percent. Overall, it was the busiest July in Port of Long Beach's history. 

"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."

According to supply chain intelligence firm Descartes, U.S. container imports surged to a near-record high as ex-China cargo volume rebounded. Overall, American ports brought in 2.6 million TEU worth of foreign goods in July, up 18 percent from the prior month and almost exactly the same as the prior record, set during the late-pandemic cargo surge in 2022. 

Imports from China drove the spike in volume, according to Descartes, and accounted for 35 percent of the entire import TEU total. At present, a temporary pause in the Trump administration's tariff negotiations with China means that Chinese goods can be imported at a comparatively low 30 percent tariff rate, which will expire (unless extended) on November 10 - giving retailers an incentive to stock up now.