The Port of Long Beach experienced its second-busiest January to kick off the new year, defying the impacts of the ongoing China-U.S. trade war and broader economic uncertainty. Long Beach, which together with the Port of Los Angeles forms the busiest U.S. container gateway, processed 847,765 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in January. This figure represents an 11% decrease from January 2025, which was the port's best January and its second-busiest month in its 115-year history. These recent gains were driven by orders placed in late 2025 and some early frontloading by importers in anticipation of the February Lunar New Year holiday. Imports declined by 13.1% to 409,818 TEUs, while exports saw a slight improvement of 0.8% to 99,478 TEUs. Empty containers, a key indicator of future import volumes, were down 11.5% to 338,470 TEUs. The port's Chief Executive stated, “We are leading the nation in trade, and providing a safe harbor in the sea of tariff and trade uncertainty for our customers and the goods movement industry.”