The latest foreign trade statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department are for the month of August. They reveal that USWC ports remain a vital component in the global trading system.
The numbers in Exhibit 4 attest to the growing share of the U.S. West Coast’s container traffic that is moving through the Southern California Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. So, while there was a slight year-over-year fall-off from last August in the percentage of containerized import tonnage moving through the nation’s Pacific Coast ports, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recorded a slender year-over-year gain in August. The share of containerized import tonnage through Oakland and the NWSA ports both declined from last August. Measured in the dollar value of shipments, August saw an increase in the USWC share of containerized imports that was entirely attributable to the 1.3 percentage point gain at the Ports of LA and Long Beach. On the export front, the overall USWC increases in both tonnage and value share recorded in August were principally due to the year-over-year gains achieved at the two Southern California ports.
Ex. 4 USWC Ports Shares of Worldwide U.S. Mainland Container Trade
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Tonnage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 36.00% | 36.40% | 38.30% | 40.10% |
| LA/LB | 28.50% | 28.10% | 27.40% | 29.30% |
| Oakland | 2.60% | 3.10% | 4.30% | 3.80% |
| NWSA | 3.50% | 3.90% | 5.40% | 5.60% |
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Value | ||||
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 42.00% | 40.70% | 46.40% | 49.80% |
| LA/LB | 33.90% | 32.60% | 34.60% | 38.20% |
| Oakland | 2.50% | 2.70% | 3.90% | 3.60% |
| NWSA | 4.70% | 4.70% | 7.30% | 7.50% |
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Tonnage | ||||
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 30.70% | 29.30% | 36.40% | 43.00% |
| LA/LB | 19.20% | 17.60% | 20.90% | 24.80% |
| Oakland | 5.30% | 5.30% | 5.90% | 6.50% |
| NWSA | 5.60% | 5.40% | 8.40% | 9.70% |
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Value | ||||
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 26.00% | 24.40% | 31.40% | 35.70% |
| LA/LB | 16.50% | 15.00% | 20.00% | 23.50% |
| Oakland | 5.50% | 5.40% | 6.10% | 6.20% |
| NWSA | 3.60% | 3.70% | 4.60% | 5.40% |
Exhibit 5 focuses on the USWC shares of America’s containerized trade with the economies of East Asia. The figures here also show a fall-off in the percentage of containerized import tonnage and value trade through USWC ports. Those ports, however, saw an increase in their collective share of U.S. containerized export tonnage but not in value.
Ex. 5 Major USWC Ports' Shares of U.S. Container Trade with East Asia
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Tonnage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 54.10% | 54.70% | 55.20% | 61.00% |
| LA/LB | 45.40% | 44.70% | 42.60% | 46.60% |
| Oakland | 2.80% | 3.50% | 4.50% | 4.60% |
| NWSA | 4.90% | 5.90% | 7.60% | 8.90% |
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Ports Containerized Import Value | ||||
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 64.80% | 62.60% | 65.00% | 68.70% |
| LA/LB | 53.80% | 51.50% | 49.80% | 53.80% |
| Oakland | 3.00% | 3.30% | 4.40% | 4.00% |
| NWSA | 7.10% | 7.20% | 10.30% | 10.50% |
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Tonnage | ||||
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 54.60% | 52.80% | 59.80% | 63.20% |
| LA/LB | 35.50% | 32.70% | 36.10% | 37.90% |
| Oakland | 8.10% | 8.70% | 9.00% | 8.50% |
| NWSA | 10.20% | 10.00% | 13.90% | 14.40% |
| Shares of U.S. Mainland Containerized Export Value | ||||
| August 2026 | August 2025 | August 2019 | August 2016 | |
| USWC | 58.50% | 56.70% | 63.20% | 69.60% |
| LA/LB | 37.50% | 35.60% | 41.50% | 46.80% |
| Oakland | 10.80% | 11.00% | 10.90% | 11.00% |
| NWSA | 9.30% | 9.50% | 9.70% | 10.50% |