On July 9, the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker projected that 2.06 million TEUs laden with goods from abroad would arrive in June at the thirteen U.S. mainland ports it surveys.

John Wolfe, CEO for the Northwest Seaport Alliance

Recently the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma and the Northwest Seaport Alliance released a first of its kind collaborative effort to measure the statewide economic impact of our Puget Sound ports. From the airport, to our marine cargo gateway, from the fishing fleets to the ecosystem of industrial lands that support all our port’s activities, these ports have a regional to global impact.

Explore whether the U.S. West Coast’s share of container trade is declining, examining recent trends, stats, and implications for port competition.

Through the first five months of 2025, containerized export tonnage from U.S. West Coast ports to China and Hong Kong plunged by 42.1% from the same period a year earlier and by 61.4% from the same months in 2019.

Captain Mike Moore, Vice President of PMSA

Ports often assess performance by tracking cargo volume growth. While additional metrics exist, cargo reigns supreme. Container ports measure activity in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), categorized by imports, exports, and empties in both domestic and international trade.

Once upon a time, Japan was the primary overseas trading partner of the ports that now operate as the Northwest Seaport Alliance. Indeed, Japan was the leading U.S. trading partner for containerized cargo, according to a 1980 report from the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Jennifer Cohen, PMSA Vice President, Government Relations

PMSA has sponsored a bill for the past several years in the California state legislature to facilitate testing and piloting, at 100% private expense, of cargo handling equipment (CHE) technology that eliminates tailpipe greenhouse gas and diesel particulate matter emissions, and nearly eliminates nitrogen oxide emissions.

Mike Jacob, President

Examine how the South Coast Air Board’s proposed rule 2304 (ISR) acts as an indirect tax on consumers. This article analyzes regulation impacts, economic implications, and what maritime and logistics sectors need to know.

Discover the latest preliminary container volumes for May 2025, revealing emerging shifts in port trade dynamics. This update highlights trends across major West Coast, East Coast, Gulf, and Canadian ports, offering a snapshot of loaded and empty TEU activity.

Trace the journey of America’s favorite fruit—from tropical plantations to supermarket shelves. This article delves into banana production, shipping logistics, and trade dynamics shaping the fruit’s path to your grocery cart.

Explore West Coast tree nut exports in this data-rich analysis. From almonds and pistachios to walnuts, discover port-specific volumes, top global destinations, and how tariffs and logistics shape California’s vital agricultural trade.

Dive into a data-driven analysis of how container trade is reverting to long-term patterns. This article examines historical norms, trends in empty vs. laden TEUs, and what these shifts reveal about global trade stability and U.S. export competitiveness.

Jock O’Connell

Explore the complexities of America’s containerized export trade in this in-depth analysis by Jock O’Connell. From rising outbound empty TEUs to long-standing trade imbalances, this article examines the economic, political, and logistical forces behind the U.S. backhaul trade. Featuring port-by-port breakdowns and historical context, it offers crucial insight into why empties are overtaking exports and what that reveals about U.S. competitiveness in global trade.

Celebrate the inspiring stories of women shaping the maritime industry in PMSA’s “Amazing Women in Maritime” campaign. Discover insights, leadership journeys, and the push for greater inclusion across West Coast ports.

Join PMSA President Mike Jacob joins Waterfront Logistics, Weston LaBar for an insight podcast conversation on tariffs, regulatory complications and more.

Mario Cordero, CEO of the Port of Long Beach

In recent weeks, the Port of Long Beach announced the results of its new economic impact analysis that shows the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in wages that trade through our gateway supports across our nation.

Mike Jacob, President

In a political environment with a dearth of work across the aisle, the bipartisanship in efforts to reinvigorate and grow the US footprint in the maritime industry, including in the shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing sectors, is particularly remarkable. 

Jock O’Connell

My late Aunt Euphrasia’s daughter Philomena has long been a prescient source of market intelligence. A notoriously frugal soul, she has always shopped for household staples, along with her usual supply of “cooking” wines, at discount stores she derisively refers to as her “General Buck” stores.

Everyone knows that importers striving to avoid impending tariff increases brought in a passel of products during the first quarter of this year. In every media outlet from print newspapers to gubernatorial podcasts, images depicting seaport operations are used to frame reports about the nation’s foreign trade.

Exhibits 9 and 10 show the nation’s ten leading container gateways ranked by the declared weight and value of containerized imports during the first quarter of 2025.