The Port of New York and New Jersey was the busiest cargo gateway in the country in May.

July 12, 2025 | enviropolitics.com

The Port of New York and New Jersey and its employees are getting more time to prepare for any potential changes to their operations from new tariffs on imports into the United States.

President Donald Trump is moving the deadline for countries to strike trade deals with the United States back, saying new tariffs will go into effect on August 1 if no agreements are reached. This includes a new 35 percent import tax for Canada, announced by President Trump Thursday.

The definitive impact on local jobs, 4,000 of which employees service the Port of New York and New Jersey, is still unclear. Based on the data of goods flowing in and out of the site, the Port of New York and New Jersey could be in a position to be hit more than others.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported that as of the latest available monthly data, the site was the busiest cargo gateway in the whole country for May. This equates to 774,698 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods being handled throughout the month. This is a 6.5 percent increase from January through May as compared to 2024.

Last year, the site was the largest container port on the U.S. East Coast and the third largest in the country, handling 8,698,526 TEUs, according to a data report from the Port of New York and New Jersey. Only Los Angeles and Long Beach ranked higher.

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