Joseph Krist
Publisher
PORTS AND TARIFFS
The Port of Los Angeles handled 892,340 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in June, 8% more than last year. It was the busiest June in the 117-year history of the Port of Los Angeles. According to the Port “Some importers are bringing in year-end holiday cargo now ahead of potential higher tariffs later in the year,”. “July may be our peak season month as retailers and manufacturers bring orders in earlier than usual, then brace for trade uncertainty.
June 2025 loaded imports came in at 470,450 TEUs, 10% more than last year. Loaded exports landed at 126,144 TEUs, a 3% improvement from 2024. The Port processed 295,746 empty container units, 7% more than last year. After six months in 2025, the Port of Los Angeles has handled 4,955,812TEUs, 5% more than the same period in 2024. The latest delay in the trade war has extended the period of lower tariffs to August 1.
The negative impacts of tariffs are already being felt in the Port of Oakland. Port of Oakland June container volume declined, as shippers and carriers adjust to softening demand and ongoing tariff uncertainty. The Port handled 168,460 TEUs (twenty-foot containers), down 10.1% from May, and 12.8% from June 2024, when 193,158 TEUs passed through Port facilities. Year-to-date container volume remains higher than the same period last year. Total volume registered 1.14 million TEUs, marking a 0.6% increase over June 2024.
Loaded imports were up 1.5%, while loaded exports experienced a 1.3% decrease. Loaded imports totaled 70,334 TEUs, marking an 11.3% decline from May, and a 16.3% drop from June 2024, when 84,040 TEUs transited Port facilities. Loaded exports registered 59,593 TEUs, marking an 11.5% month-over-month decline, and a 10.3% decrease from June 2024, when the Port handled 66,424 TEUs.
RURAL AMERICA
The ongoing uncertainty with the prosecution of the tariff trade war is taking its toll in many ways on the rural economy. Commodity pricing has not been favorable. Program changes at the federal level are closing long established outlets for commodities especially grain. Input and capital costs are rising. Now with the enactment of the BBB, more changes are coming October 1.
The 2002 Farm Bill created the program now known as REAP; it was given its current name under the 2008 Farm Bill. For over two decades, the federal Rural Energy for America Program has provided grants for solar, wind, energy-efficiency upgrades, grain dryers, biodigesters, and other projects in rural America. The most common use case for REAP grants is helping farmers install solar.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act funded REAP with some $2 billion, but those funds will soon run out. Under the Trump administration, A U.S. Department of Agriculture document outlined its Make Agriculture Great Again agenda. Going forward, REAP “will disincentivize funding for solar panels on productive farmland.” The program will likely revert to the lower funding level of $50 million per year ensured by the current iteration of the federal Farm Bill.
VIRGINIA TOLL REBATES
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is set to cancel US$36m in unpaid toll debt accumulated by drivers who used the Midtown and Downtown tunnels in the city of Portsmouth, as part of a targeted effort to address long-standing concerns about the potential impact of tolls on working commuters with limited means. The Midtown and Downtown tunnels are operated under a 58-year public-private partnership (PPP) between VDOT and Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC), a private concessionaire owned by Spanish infrastructure group Abertis. The PPP includes tolling, maintenance and operations across both tunnel facilities.
Although ERC remains contractually entitled to pursue unpaid tolls under the PPP, the firm agreed to waive collections in exchange for reimbursement from the state.
The state will cover the full cost of the US$36m debt write-off using funds from its Toll Relief Program, introduced in 2022 under then-governor Ralph Northam to support frequent tunnel users earning less than US$50,000 per year. To qualify, drivers must reside in eligible ZIP codes and make a minimum of eight trips per month through the Midtown or Downtown tunnels.
FOLLOWING UP
In Los Angeles, MTA estimated a ridership count of roughly 23.7 million last month on its bus and rail systems — a 13.5% drop from May and the lowest June on record since 2022, when numbers had started to rebound since the pandemic emergency, according to Metro data. Metro’s numbers fell to its lowest levels of the year in June after the immigration raids throughout Los Angeles County. The large immigration sweeps began June 6.
Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, said he had secured a commitment from Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel a conditional loan guarantee that the federal agency had granted to the developers of the Grain Belt Express. (See MCN 7.7.25)
The New York State Public Service Commission has terminated its offshore wind transmission planning process due to stalled federal permitting. The commission cited recent federal actions halting new offshore wind leasing and permitting, which it said make short-term project execution unfeasible.
The Maine Governor’s Energy Office was supposed to issue its first solicitation for energy generated by offshore turbines at the beginning of July, according to a 2023 law. But last month the Maine Public Utilities Commission agreed to the office’s request to extend that deadline indefinitely the extension was due to “recent changes in the energy landscape that have caused significant uncertainty in the offshore wind industry, including shifts in federal energy policy and market conditions.”
STADIUM NEWS
The Tampa Bay Rays may be poised to finally play home games in their own stadium in Tampa. A sale of the team had been in the works since talks with the City of St. Petersburg over the replacement of the existing but damaged stadium that had served as the Rays home since their inception. A sale was reported this week to a group led by a Jacksonville developer for about $1.7 billion. It is believed that new ownership would have the team play in a stadium in Tampa.
The battle over the future location of Kansas City’s Royals and Chiefs is heating up. A bipartisan council of Kansas lawmakers voted Monday to extend by six months the deadline for the Missouri-based Kansas City Royals or the Kansas City Chiefs to accept economic development incentives from Kansas for construction of sports stadiums. The 2024 law that established procedures for issuance of STAR (Sales Tax and Revenue) bonds to cover 70% of construction costs for one or both stadiums and support structures had a deadline of June 30, 2025. The statute gave the LCC authority to add another year to the timeline.
Missouri offered to finance up to 50% of the cost to renovate or build new stadiums for the Royals and Chiefs. Missouri’s legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, plus up to $50 million of tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
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