Exports from the Port of Los Angeles fell eight per cent in January to the lowest monthly level in nearly three years, ports executive director Gene Seroka said, reported Melbourne's Baird Maritime.

Mr Seroka said the port handled 104,297 TEU of loaded export containers last month. He described exports to China as "dismal�� noting soybean shipments to China dropped 80 per cent in 2025 and showed no recovery late in the year despite bilateral talks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Trade expert Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute of Economics said US shipments of beef, corn, crude oil and coal also fell last year. He added that overall exports to China remain weak.

Imports at Los Angeles came in at 421,594 TEU in January, down 13 per cent from the strong result a year earlier. Seroka said February imports appear flat compared with last year, but March will slow due to China factory closures for the Lunar New Year.

He expects total first-quarter volume to fall less than 10 per cent compared with the same period last year, when US importers rushed goods ahead of tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump.

"I don't see the economy or cargo volume dropping off a cliff after that,��Mr Seroka said. He acknowledged softer holiday sales in December but said he does not foresee a dire situation for consumer spending, which drives about 70 per cent of US economic activity.