Despite economic uncertainty, the Port of Los Angeles is on track to process more than 10 million twenty-foot equivalent units at the end of the year, officials announced Tuesday.
In November, the port processed 782,249 TEUs, a decrease of 12% compared to elevated cargo levels during the same month in 2024. With one month left in the year, the port so far has handled 9,447,731 TEUs, a 1% increase compared to 2024.
“Even with all the trade uncertainty, we’ll finish 2025 north of 10 million TEUs, putting this year firmly in our top three of all time,” Gene Seroka, port executive, said during an online media call Tuesday.
“All that cargo moved without congestion and not a single ship backed up. That’s a credit to our longshore labor, truckers, terminal operators, rail partners and every stakeholder who keeps this complex system running smoothly,” Seroka continued. “That kind of reliability is why 200,000 importers and exporters each year continue to choose Los Angeles — and trust us in any market condition.”
Loaded imports came in at 406,421 TEUs, a decrease of 11% compared to November 2024. Meanwhile, loaded exports stood at 113,706 TEUs, an 8% drop compared to 2024, and the port handled 262,122 empty containers, a 13% decrease from last year.
Seroka reiterated that imports surged earlier in the year as a result of front loading, as a way for importers to get around anticipated tariffs from the Trump administration.
“One you adjust for that early front loading, and compare this November to our running five-year average, we’re basically right on track, and that gives us a pretty good sense of where things stand today,” Seroka said.
He further explained that exports out of Los Angeles have been down in seven of the last 11 months. For the first time since 2021, the port is on track for a year-over-year decline in outbound goods, which in part can be attributed to impacts of retaliatory tariffs and third country trade deals on U.S. agriculture and manufacturing exports. Seroka anticipates this headwind will continue for some time.
Constance Hunter, chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, joined Seroka for the briefing. She provided insights on the impacts of tariffs on trade and the economy, and an outlook for 2026.
Hunter noted that while federal tariffs did shave off some points from U.S. gross domestic product, two other factors balanced it out, import front loading and investment into artificial intelligence technology, ultimately driving the overall annual growth this year.
Entering 2026, Hunter expects a level of economic uncertainty to linger.
“We, of course, have the Supreme Court ruling on the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) tariffs. The administration will look for other ways to gain back that revenue, and of course that will add uncertainty,” Hunter said.
“If we think about just geopolitical uncertainty and political risk, that is unlikely to abate in 2026. We have Russia, Ukraine and how that impacts European growth, and then that big China and Taiwan question, and the durability of peace in the Middle East,” Hunter added.
On the other side of the coin, Hunter anticipated that people will act in spite of the economic uncertainty, and AI adoption will continue as well.
“One thing we do think that will be different is we think firms will begin to pass on a bit more of the tariff costs onto consumers, so that will certainly take a pinch out of consumption, but we have to juxtapose that against the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act tax refunds,” Hunter said.
Hunter added, “The timing of these tax refunds mean that they (businesses) will be able to pass on a bit more than they did in 2025, so when we think of goods prices, we don’t expect affordability to improve significantly, at least in the first half of 2026.”