Overview

• The port processed 892,340 twenty-foot equivalent units in June, marking its busiest June in its 117-year history and an 8% gain over last year
• Gene Seroka called the surge a “tariff whipsaw effect” as shippers front-loaded cargo to beat President Trump’s mid-August deadline for higher China duties
• Layered tariffs have driven per-container import costs from $1,500–$2,000 up to $40,000–$50,000 for companies like Yedi Houseware
• To mitigate rising duties, firms are shifting manufacturing to Vietnam and logistics providers are reconfiguring routes to handle altered cargo flows
• Port officials and the National Retail Federation forecast double-digit declines in container volumes from August through November once new tariffs take effect