A new wave of ocean freight from China is beginning to arrive at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, an increased flow of shipping containers aiming to beat potential tariff increases. President Trump imposed a deadline of August 12 for the U.S. and China to agree to a trade deal.
In recent days, the vessel tracking service managed by the Marine Exchange of Southern California and Coast Guard showed an uptick in ship arrivals: Friday (64), Saturday (68), and Sunday (64).
“This is a pretty solid forecast of an increase in container ship arrivals in the next one to two weeks,” said Captain J. Kipling (Kip) Louttit, executive director of MX SoCal. He said it is the highest number of container ships on the way to the nation’s busiest ports since January 2025 (previous highs were in July and September 2024).
The forecast for the coming weeks encompasses the average of container ships coming from the far reaches of Asia that are 16 days out, those coming from Oakland and San Diego which are one day out, and others on the way from the Panama Canal, South and Central America, Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska, with transit times in between.
The increase in containers was expected, and officials have stopped short of describing it as a “surge.” There is no expectation of sustained high levels — ocean freight booking orders fell after a couple of weeks of increased orders. There is no expectation of congestion at the West Coast ports, either, due to recent softness in container traffic. The trade war has led many U.S. importers to place a pause on orders, and vessels arriving into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach before the new wave have not been full.
