The Port of Los Angeles reported more than 890,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) processed in April, representing the second highest mark it's ever recorded for the month.

In a May 11 briefing, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka noted that April was the shipping hub's strongest month so far this year, with the port recording its second highest cargo volumes since August. 

“Retailers and manufacturers are continuing to move goods despite uncertainty, and based on what we’re seeing in Asia, the next wave of imports — from back-to-school to early holiday merchandise — is already beginning to build," Seroka said.

Through the first four months of the year, the Port of Los Angeles was 2% of its five-year average for TEUs, and 2% behind last year's pace. As Seroka pointed out, 2025 also represented a significant outlier for cargo movements, given that President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariff announcement in April had many businesses front-loading shipments to get ahead of deadlines set by the White House.

However, the trade landscape today is arguably even more chaotic, said Katherine Tai, former U.S. Trade Representative during the Biden administration.

"We’re in the midst of a huge inflection point," she said, particularly as the war in Iran has strained global energy supplies. "It's a deeply disruptive time."

As of mid-May, U.S. gas prices are at their highest levels since 2022, having risen by roughly 44% since the start of the Iran conflict. Brown University also estimates that Americans have paid $29.2 billion more for fuel over that period than they otherwise would have, for an average of over $155 per household.