Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA. team.
Published July 14, 2025 5:15 PM
Cargo containers sit stacked on ships at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.
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Topline:
Port of L.A. officials say import traffic was up 32% in June compared to the month prior. They say it’s the rollercoaster effect of President Donald Trump’s on again, off again tariffs.
Why it matters: More than 100,000 companies do business through the Port of L.A. The rise and fall of traffic is an indicator of product availability and business stability.
Why now: Trump has paused some tariffs until August. There’s concern that this see-saw effect will hurt orders placed for the all-important Christmas shopping season.
What's next: Port officials say they expect July container traffic to be high as companies try to get products to the U.S. before the August tariffs kick in.
Port of L.A. container traffic grew to 470,450 loaded containers in June — up 32% compared to the prior month — as customers try to get in as much as they can before tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump kick in.
Port officials say Trump’s on-again, off-again approach to tariffs he’s announced on overseas imports has created a rollercoaster in traffic.
“As we saw in the month of May, people slammed on the brakes importing goods from China and, to an extent, other places,” said Port of L.A. Executive Director Gene Seroka.
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Port of LA container traffic jumps 32% in June as tariffs loom
Earlier this year, Trump announced a pause on some major tariffs until the beginning of July. He’s paused some of those again until the beginning of August.
Run or walk the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Conquer the Bridge 5.3 mile race on Labor Day.
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“With this little bit of timeline movement to Aug. 1, you start seeing a quick shot up of the imports that are coming in now,” Seroka said.
China is by far the largest source of imports into the Port of L.A. and the U.S.
“I brought in probably five months’ worth of inventory [earlier this year,]” said Bobby Djavaheri, president of Yedi Houseware, a Los Angeles company that imports items like air fryers and waffle makers from China that are sold in stores like T.J. Maxx.
But he said that’s slowed down as he’s had to pay tariffs since then on some items.
The bulk of container traffic into the Port of L.A. is imports. Export traffic is about one-fourth the amount of import traffic. But export traffic through the port also grew, up 3% compared last year. But there’s a concern among port officials that reciprocal tariffs imposed by foreign countries may reduce that traffic.
