Port of Los Angeles sets June cargo record amid tariff rush

The Port of Los Angeles handled 1,002,734 twenty-foot equivalent units in June, its busiest June ever and only the third month in its 118-year history to top 1 million TEUs. The record may be a warning sign as much as a boom: shippers appear to have been pulling cargo forward before higher fuel costs and new U.S. import tariffs hit harder, turning the nation’s busiest container port into a gauge of urgency as well as demand.

Imports drove the month, rising 13 percent from a year earlier to 530,558 TEUs. Exports were essentially flat at 126,365 TEUs, while empty containers climbed 17 percent to 345,811 TEUs as equipment moved back to Asia to support continued demand. Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said the June result came without vessel backlogs or cargo delays, and he credited International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers, terminal operators, truckers and rail partners. The port also said businesses were moving cargo whenever conditions were favorable instead of following normal seasonal patterns.

The six-month tally showed the pace had not slowed much: Los Angeles handled 5,122,603 TEUs in the first half of 2026, 3 percent ahead of the same period in 2025. The port said it closed its fiscal year with more than 10.4 million TEUs, a milestone that underscored the scale of throughput at San Pedro Bay even as trade policy remains unsettled. Dartmouth College economist Douglas Irwin joined the port briefing to discuss tariffs, global commerce and the forces reshaping supply-chain decisions.

The neighboring Port of Long Beach posted its own strong June, handling 779,331 TEUs in its third-busiest June on record. Imports rose to 387,025 TEUs, exports slipped to 86,446 TEUs and empty containers increased to 305,860 TEUs. Year-to-date volume reached 4,829,578 TEUs, up 1.7 percent from the first half of 2025. Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba said shippers were frontloading cargo ahead of temporary 10 percent tariffs scheduled to expire on July 24, creating an early peak season and a summertime surge in trade.

Nationally, container flows echoed the same pattern. Descartes Systems Group said U.S. containerized imports totaled 2,400,627 TEUs in June, down 1.2 percent from May but up 8.2 percent from June 2025. China-origin imports held at 814,474 TEUs, while imports from the top 10 countries rose 13.2 percent from a year earlier. Descartes also said Los Angeles port delays almost doubled in June, even as East and Gulf Coast delays improved, a reminder that the June rush may reflect not just strong consumer demand but a scramble to beat tariff deadlines, shifting fuel costs and wider geopolitical risk.