Double exposure of an oil worker and industrial port with a digital interface on their helmet.

Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. importers have shifted trade between coasts due to disruptions like labor strikes and geopolitical tensions. Improved supply chain flexibility has allowed quick adjustments, with Southern California ports seeing a rebound despite tariff concerns. Berger writes:

Just a few years ago, U.S. importers looking at big bottlenecks at West Coast ports swung their cargoes to the East as containerships backed up off the Southern California coast and unionized dockworkers slowed operations from Seattle to Long Beach.

Last year, importers rushed back to the West as dockworkers from Maine to Texas threatened to strike and Houthi rebels in Yemen blocked access to the Suez Canal, triggering a big shift in inland supply chains and delays at rail yards that suddenly saw thousands more containers.  […]

The West Coast’s gain of a larger share of U.S. import trade last year bucks a decadeslong trend in which cargoes have slowly drifted eastward. […]

West Coast ports also benefited in 2024 from disruptions in the Red Sea, where attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial vessels effectively closed the Suez Canal to the container trade. With shipping lines taking longer routes around Africa, many importers shifted a share of their container trade to West Coast ports.

The Houthis have pledged to stop their attacks following a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Ocean carriers say they are waiting to see if the cease-fire holds before resuming routes through the canal. Lynch said restoration of the Suez routes “would open the floodgates to the East Coast.”

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