Uncertainty is helping to generate a "tsunami" of imports at some ports

U.S. ports continue to have a banner year. The Port of Long Beach — part of the largest shipping complex in the world — just had its best month ever in its 115-year history. It imported nearly 1 million shipping containers in September, despite tariffs, wars, and inflation.

In fact, those might actually be boosting imports.

Traditionally, September has been when holiday shopping imports arrive. But Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba said that rush came in the summer this year. Still, September was the port’s biggest month ever.

“Your traditional peaks and valleys have essentially been replaced by a tsunami of cargo,” he said.

Tariffs have created uncertainty, and Dale Rogers, who teaches logistics and supply chain management at Arizona State, said that when the future’s uncertain, “there's this belief: ‘Hey, let's get it into the U.S., because what we know today is more certain than what will maybe happen next month or the month after, and so on.’”

Importing right now is also attractive because big geopolitical changes are not likely right before the midterms. Long Beach in particular is also benefiting from the ongoing drought restrictions in the Panama Canal.

“It's taking close to 200 fewer ships per month, I think, in September because of the water levels,” said Lisa Ellram, who teaches supply chain management at Miami University in Ohio. And a lot of those ships end up in Long Beach instead.