Port of Los Angeles container volume came in 8% higher in June then last year's record total.
The surge represents a rebound after container i
The bump in traffic came as retailers pushed to bring in goods for the holidays before the
The port saw 892,000 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUS, in June, 470,450 in imports, 126,144 in exports and 295,000 in empties.
The surge in traffic at the nation's number-one container port highlights the "tariff whipsaw effect," Seroka said.
"Some importers are bringing in year-end holiday cargo now ahead of potential higher tariffs later in the year," he said. "July may be our peak season month as retailers and manufacturers bring orders in earlier than usual, then brace for trade uncertainty."
He expects robust imports for July before an easing off in August, when new tariffs could be in place.
Trump's 90-day pause on tariff increases was supposed to end July 9, but he extended it to Aug. 1,
"Putting off the increased levy will no doubt bring some short-term relief for impacted business owners and purchasing managers, though it does little to alleviate the pervasive sense of uncertainty that has scope to pare capital spending plans in the back half of the year," Wells Fargo economists Shannon Grein and Tim Quinlan wrote in a
Seroka has previously warned that without long-term trade agreements, consumers could face higher prices and limited choices during the holiday season.
Despite all the uncertainty, the port ended the fiscal year on June 30 up on container volume.
The port closed its fiscal year "ending the period handling 10.5 million TEUs," Seroka added. "That marks our third fiscal year exceeding 10 million TEUs, the only Western Hemisphere port to do so."
