Long Beach Port container surge marked its second-busiest August as retailers rushed to benefit from the temporary U.S-China tariff pause.
Part of the San Pedro Bay harbor complex along with the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach handled 901,846 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in August, slightly down 1.3% from the monthly record set in 2024.
Imports fell 3.6%. The Port of Long Beach recorded its second-busiest August and the sixth-busiest month in its 114-year history, as retailers rushed to benefit from a temporary pause in U.S. tariffs on China..6% to 440,318 TEUs, while exports dropped 8.3% to 95,960 TEUs. Meanwhile, empty containers, an indicator of future import activity, rose 3.7% to 365,567 TEUs.
“Changing trade policies continue to create uncertainty for businesses and consumers,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “Our Supply Chain Information Highway digital tracker projects that the peak shipping season will keep pace with last year as retailers stock their warehouses ahead of the winter holidays.”
The initial 90-day tariff pause introduced by President Donald Trump expired in early August. A new pause, maintaining baseline tariffs at 30%, now runs through November as Beijing and Washington continue negotiating a trade deal.
Privately, a shipping executive told FreightWaves that the tariff pause provided temporary relief for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, whose IT systems were overwhelmed by the surge of policy changes.
Meanwhile, a distributor of industrial testing equipment sourcing from China and Malaysia said that customer demand began rising in June, strengthened in July, and is expected to reach a record in August. Tariff-related price increases were minimal, around 3%, giving customers more confidence in planning for the coming months.
Through the first eight months of 2025, Long Beach handled 6,592,708 TEUs, up 8.3% from the same period last year.
Source: FreightWaves (by Stuart Chirls)
