Port of LA sees January dip in cargo volume – NBC Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles processed 812,000 twenty-foot equivalent units in January, representing a 12% decrease compared to last year’s cargo levels, officials announced Tuesday.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the port, provided the latest data on cargo processing at the San Pedro facility as part of his monthly online briefing. January loaded imports stood at 421,594 TEUs, a 13% decrease compared to January 2025, and loaded exports landed at 104,297 TEUs, an 8% drop.

The port handled 286,110 empty container units, a 12% decrease compared to the same month last year.

Seroka attributed the decline to several factors.

“First, we’re comparing January to 2025 elevated numbers when importers were scrambling to get cargo in ahead of tariffs. Second, inventories remain slightly higher, reflecting the earlier cargo surge and a more cautious restocking pace,” Seroka said.

“Finally, U.S. trade policy continues to keep everyone on edge,” Seroka added. “However, the American consumer has shown remarkable resilience. And purchase orders that go out three months in advance to Asia look stable, a good sign.”

Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, joined the briefing and discussed tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on U.S. trading partners in 2025, saying they drove an unusually high level of trade activity not seen since the 1930s.

“If you impose a 25% tariff on a good coming in, the effect of that 25% is being paid by someone in the United States,” Bown said. “…The evidence so far, at least through, say, the first eight or nine months of 2025 is that almost 100% of the tariffs are being paid by somebody in the United States.”

Bown said several developments could influence the economy in the coming year, including a review of the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement, potential meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision related to international trade.