By Lisa Baertlein
LOS ANGELES, July 15 (Reuters) – The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest U.S. container seaport, said on Wednesday it set a June cargo record as shippers ranging from retailers to data center builders rushed in goods to avoid higher fuel costs and new U.S. import tariffs.
The Southern California port handled 1,002,734 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month, 12% more than in June 2025, marking the third time the 118-year-old trade gateway has topped the 1 million TEU mark, executive director Gene Seroka said. June imports increased 13% to 530,558, while exports inched up 0.2% to 126,365, port data showed.
The adjacent Port of Long Beach said on Tuesday it processed 779,331 TEUs last month, marking its third-busiest June volume on record, bolstered by an 11% jump in imports.
Overall, U.S. container imports surged 8.2% in June from a year earlier, data from supply chain technology provider Descartes Systems Group showed.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted shipping in the Middle East and around the world. Marine fuel costs have soared and some retailers and manufacturers also worry that key raw materials and factory goods could become scarce or too expensive to ship.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump plans this month to implement its new tariff strategy, which relies on Section 301 of U.S. trade law, a provision that authorizes investigations into unfair trade practices. Those new duties are designed to help rebuild Trump’s emergency tariffs, struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
(Reporting by Lisa BaertleinEditing by Rod Nickel)
