Port of Long Beach: Building the future
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
CALIFORNIA GATEWAY
primarily on strategic industrial materials, such as steel and aluminum, and the sectors that produce them.
Although President Donald Trump’ s sweeping tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2026, he imposed new tariffs under Section 301 of 10 % and 12.5 % on goods from more than 60 trading partners, including the European Union and China, in July.
“ These tariffs will affect the pricing of
bulk cement and agricultural fertilizers,” Vezzali said.“ Since California does not domestically produce sufficient quantities to meet demand for either commodity, we anticipate import volumes will remain consistent.”
“ We do not anticipate significant disruption [ due to the new tariffs ]. In fact, we have received many new inquiries recently, which is a positive sign,” he added.
The Port of Long Beach, the secondbusiest port in the country by traffic volume, has seen its foreign imports stay robust compared with the previous year. Hacegaba noted that the largest factor in the port not seeing a drastic decline in traffic was frontloading.
“ Shippers [ were ] wanting to get ahead of new tariffs, to mitigate the risk of additional tariffs and also additional fuel costs,” he said.“ We started noticing frontloading at the end of 2024 through
“ Retailers, manufacturers and cargo owners tell us that they will continue to diversify sourcing.”
April 2025, then‘ Liberation Day’ set an artificial milestone and many shippers decided to advance shipments. After that, we saw a drop off [ of traffic ], but then it picked up again in late summer / early fall.”
In the first quarter of 2026, Long Beach processed 2.39 million TEUs, compared with 2.38 million TEUs at the Port of Los Angeles.
“ All the frontloading in 2025 catapulted the Port of Long Beach,” Hacegaba said.
Currently, a combination of factors— including tariff uncertainty, geopolitical instability and higher fuel costs— are leading to more frontloading activity. The port has seen shippers rebalancing sourcing strategies and seeking methods to mitigate the risks of new tariffs and rising fuel costs.
Regarding how the new tariffs enacted in July are expected to affect trade through Long Beach, Hacegaba doesn’ t expect any material change.
“ Retailers, manufacturers and cargo owners tell us that they will continue to diversify sourcing, adjust inventory strategies and build flexibility into their supply chains rather than bet on a single policy outcome,” he said.
Despite these turbulent times, US consumer demand remains robust. The National Retail Federation projects that US retail sales will grow 4.4 % in 2026, surpassing the 3.6 % average annual growth seen over the last decade.
“ The American consumer has been very resilient,” Hacegaba said.“ The resilience of the American consumer has been met by the resilience in the supply chain.”
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Port of Long Beach: Building the future
As the premier US gateway for trans-Pacific trade, the Port of Long Beach is one of the nation’ s busiest seaports, handling trade valued at more than $ 300 billion annually.
The port supports 2.7 million jobs across the United States, including 691,000 in Southern California. That is one in 17 jobs in the region connected to the port.
The Port of Long Beach supports its community through its annual sponsorship program, which set a record in FY2026, with more than $ 3 million offered to local nonprofits.
One of 18 commercial strategic seaports in the nation, the port has a duty to support force deployment during contingencies and other national defense emergencies.
By operating Foreign-Trade Zone No. 50, the port lessens the impact of tariffs and eliminates customs clearance delays by having shipments delivered directly to qualifying businesses within Orange County and parts of San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.
Guided by its bold, new 2050 Vision, the Port of Long Beach is building the Port of the Future™ with an ambitious goal to double its annual container volume to 20 million units by 2050 while becoming the world’ s first zero-emissions seaport.
Over the next decade, the Port of Long Beach is strategically modernizing its infrastructure with $ 3.3 billion in capital investments and developing digital systems to dramatically enhance efficiency and visibility.
Customers choose the Port of Long Beach for the most dependable, cost-effective and fastest delivery of goods in the world, along with the strong relationships it maintains with industry, community, environmental advocates and partner agencies. It is a winning combination that’ s tough to beat. In 2026, industry leaders named Long Beach“ The Best West
Coast Seaport in North America” for an eighth consecutive year. The Port of Long Beach. Always open. Always moving. n For more information, please visit www. polb. com.
48 Journal of Commerce | September 7, 2026 www. joc. com