Global News FreightWaves June rebound as West Coast
containers best East, Gulf ports

Stuart Chirls, Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Original Article: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/june-container-imports-rebound-on-shifting-trade-dynamics-geopolitics
Articles Reproduced by Permission of FreightWaves

(Screengrab from Port Authority of New York and New Jersey video)

In June 2025, U.S. container import volumes experienced a modest rebound, marking a stabilization after May’s sharp decline.

Data from Descartes reveals a 1.8% increase in container imports to 2,217,675 twenty foot equivalent units, narrowing the year-over-year decline to 3.5%. This rebound suggests that U.S. importers are beginning to adapt their supply chains amid ongoing tariff and policy shifts, with year-to-date import volumes tracking 3.8% above 2024 levels.

Volume gains at top U.S. ports

The shift in port dynamics was noticeable, with top West Coast ports regaining momentum. Los Angeles experienced a 29.1% increase in volume, adding 103,884 TEUs, while Long Beach saw an 18.8% rise, contributing an additional 58,492 TEUs. Tacoma’s volume increased by 33.3%, highlighting a strong performance on the West Coast.

Conversely, most East and Gulf Coast ports reported significant declines. Savannah saw a decrease of 16.9%, and Houston experienced a 15.8% drop in volumes. Overall, the top 10 U.S. ports handled a combined volume showing a 3.1% rise month-over-month.

China-origin import challenges

Despite a slight month-over-month increase of 0.4% to 639,300 TEUs, U.S. imports from China were down 28.3% from June 2024, reflecting the sustained impact of elevated tariffs and the rollback of the de minimis exemption. Categories such as furniture and plastics saw sharp year-over-year declines. With China-origin imports constituting only 28.8% of total U.S. imports — the lowest in four years — importers are pushing toward diversification, favoring Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam, for example, increased its export volumes to the U.S. by 7.7% over May, indicating a shift in sourcing strategies.

Port delays and efficiency improvements

Port delays improved notably in June, particularly at key West Coast ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach, which saw reductions in congestion by 2.1 and 3.3 days, respectively. This improvement signals an easing of the bottlenecks prevalent in May. East and Gulf Coast ports, while experiencing smaller gains, remained more stable with minimal changes in transit times.

U.S.-China trade talks and global shipping disruptions