The Port of Los Angeles recorded its second busiest April on record, despite the war in Iran, a related rise in shipping fuel costs and continued trade uncertainty.<\/p>\n
The port processed more than 890,00 container units<\/a> last month, 5.7% higher than a year ago. That was driven by a strong growth in imports, which totaled about 460,000 20-foot container units (TEUs), an increase of 5% compared to a year ago and 21% higher than March.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what\u2019s driving this, generally speaking, is the American consumer, still resilient, still spending,\u201d said Gene Seroka, port executive director, during a news conference. \u201cAnd based on what we\u2019re seeing in Asia, the next wave of imports \u2014 from back-to-school to early holiday merchandise \u2014 is already beginning to build.\u201d<\/p>\n The solid numbers brought the year-to-date trade figures to 3.28 million TEUs, about 2% over its five-year average and 2% below last year\u2019s pace, which was abnormally high earlier in the year as importers tried to get ahead of President Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n More than 95% of the ports trade is with Asian partners, with China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam the top five countries, Seroka said.<\/p>\n Still, uncertainty over tariffs has plagued international trade.<\/p>\n Last week, the 10% global tariffs that President Trump imposed after his \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs were struck down in February, also were declared unlawful<\/a> by a federal judge. Trump imposed the duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which had never previously been invoked.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t immediately clear what the ruling would mean for importers that had been paying the levies. The Justice Department could challenge the trade court\u2019s latest ruling by taking the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n While imports have continued to hold up, the tariffs have impacted export markets. The number of outbound TEUs fell 0.5% to about 128,000 in April.<\/p>\n \u201cTariff\u2011rich environments will continue, and the uncertainty around how those tariffs are deployed will also continue,\u201d said Katherine Thai, former U.S. Trade Representative under President Biden, who spoke at the briefing. \u201cIt\u2019s a deeply disruptive time.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, cargo ships that call on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are facing much higher fuel costs<\/a> due to the Iran war\u2019s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n