The busiest port in America is no longer on the West Coast

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For the past 22 years, the Port of Los Angeles has been the busiest container port in North America, moving around 10 million cargo containers filled with goods for Americans and bringing in roughly half a billion dollars in revenue each year to the state of California. But for the past three months, the Port of New York and New Jersey has been No. 1.

This rerouting of the US supply chain is a bid to get goods to consumers faster and cheaper. The vast majority of foreign-made goods, from furniture and apparel to auto parts, all come to the United States on cargo vessels that unload at US Ports.

LA isn’t happy about losing its title to its cross-country rival.

“We’ve got to get that cargo back,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, in a recent press briefing.

Since August, imports into the two major West Coast ports — Los Angeles and Long Beach — have declined. Cargo volume at the Port of Los Angeles is down by 25% in the last three months compared to last year, and down by 17.3% on the five-year average. That cargo is now flowing into Gulf Coast ports like Savannah and New Orleans, and East Coast ports in New York and New Jersey.

“The record levels of cargo continue,” said Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, at a press briefing last month.

“Our goal is to keep as much of that business as possible,” said a spokesperson from the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The shift stems from fears about an unresolved labor contract between the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). Around 20,000 dockworkers at West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, have been working without a contract since July 1. Retailers are nervous that the lingering negotiations could lead to a strike, despite reassurances from both parties that this won’t happen. A US freight rail strike nearly sent the US economy into a supply chain spiral — raising the stakes for what a port strike could do. A dockworker strike, which both labor parties say they are adamant about avoiding, would cripple the West Coast and US supply chain — sending even more volume and pressure to other — smaller – East and Gulf Coast ports.

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