Executive Commentary |
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from India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Italy and Germany, offsetting moderation from China as sourcing patterns, consumer behavior and geopolitics reshape global trade. Tariff volatility has further complicated routing decisions and inventory strategies, making agility, not just capacity, the defining advantage. In this environment, ports, carriers and shippers must invest in flexibility, transparency and coordination to effectively manage risk and control cost.
At the Port of New York & New Jersey, that transformation is well underway. The port has accelerated infrastructure modernization, sustainability initiatives and inland connectivity improvements to provide scalable, efficient solutions for shippers and logistics partners. These investments are enhancing reliability, improving cargo flow and strengthening longterm supply chain resilience. A recent economic impact study reaffirmed the port’ s importance to the regional and national economy, supporting more than 580,000 jobs and generating $ 18.1 billion in tax revenue annually.
Looking ahead to 2026, the port’ s strategic priorities remain clear: growth, innovation and sustainability. Efforts will focus on expanding inland rail capacity, efficiency, advancing clean energy and emissions-reduction projects, and leveraging data and technology to enhance operational visibility. As the logistics industry evolves toward a more digitized, sustainable and customer-centric model, the Port of New York & New Jersey is adapting with purpose. By prioritizing reliability, flexibility and clean growth, the port is well positioned to meet the demands of a changing global economy and continue leading as the East Coast’ s premier gateway for world trade.
Port Everglades
Joseph Morris
CEO and Port Director www. porteverglades. net
The latest US tariffs have certainly added complexity to global trade, but the container shipping industry has proven to be highly adaptable.
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“ With smart investment and collaborative leadership among industry, labor and government, we can build 21st century ports that are the envy of the world.”
Stephen Hennessey
“ The latest US tariffs have certainly added complexity to global trade, but the container shipping industry has proven to be highly adaptable.”
Joseph Morris
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Pacific Maritime Association
Stephen Hennessey
President and CEO www. pmanet. org
While short-term volume fluctuations are a fact of life at West Coast ports, our industry must prepare for long-term growth. The decisions we make now will determine whether our ports remain leading gateways for global commerce.
Today, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the anchors of the West Coast, handling nearly 40 % of Asian containerized imports. Yet they have also experienced a coastwide market share decline of approximately 20 percentage points over the past decade, according to maritime economist John Martin. A 2021 World Bank / S & P Performance Index ranked these two ports last globally— 369th and 370th.
The stakes are high to strengthen their position. Despite their challenges, these two ports contributed more than $ 791 billion to California’ s economy, or 23.5 % of the state’ s GDP, in 2021. They support hundreds of thousands of jobs across the regional supply chain, and millions of jobs nationwide.
To rebuild confidence, win back cargo and drive sustained job growth, it is vital to demonstrate predictable
Closer to home, South Florida’ s demand remains resilient.
At Port Everglades, our trade is largely with Latin America and the Caribbean. That means we are somewhat insulated from the direct impacts of tariffs involving China— although not entirely immune.
While some global markets saw a slowdown for much of 2025, Port Everglades maintained steady TEU growth, which underscores the resilience of our trade network.
We recognize that tariffs are unlikely to disappear, and the industry is adjusting accordingly through diversified
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costs, stable operations and respect for the collective bargaining agreement that underpins West Coast port operations. The contract delivers world-class wages, benefits and pensions for longshore workers. It also guides the introduction of modern systems to boost terminal performance.
Political challenges to the collective bargaining agreement threaten billions of dollars in planned investments to modernize terminals. These impending investments depend on confidence in the West Coast’ s future; any political, regulatory or labor uncertainty risks diverting future capital expenditures and related cargo growth to other regions in North America.
We know that modern terminals are proven engines for economic development. Since clear and direct modernization provisions were added to the collective bargaining agreement nearly two decades ago, longshore employment, total wages and average wages have all grown. New technologies have also improved efficiency and cargo throughput.
With smart investment and collaborative leadership among industry, labor and government, we can build 21st century ports that are the envy of the world, driving job, business and economic growth for generations to come.
sourcing, flexible routing and smarter logistics planning.
Whenever possible in our capacity as a landlord port, we work closely with ocean carriers, beneficial cargo operators and our marine terminal partners to keep service levels stable.
We also leverage our expertise and advantages to help our cargo customers. Tools such as our Foreign-Trade Zone No. 25 help shippers manage US Customs duty exposure. On the competitive-edge side, our strong operational performance— noted in the recent Container Port Performance
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