Port of LA container traffic jumps 32% in June as tariffs loom

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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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.

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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.