Laredo named largest port in the United States

LAREDO, TX (KGNS) – Laredo is making history after knocking Los Angeles out of the top spot as the country’s largest port.

The City of Laredo and the local trade industry are rejoicing over reaching an important milestone.

A Forbes article shows port Laredo processed over 20 billion dollars in trade two months ago, while the port of Los Angeles brought in more than 19 billion dollars.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz says we got the number one spot by 400 million for the month of March but each month will vary but it’s the city’s goal to be number one.

According to Forbes, the port of Laredo received 97 percent of its trade in 2018 from Mexico, which goes to show they are our biggest partner.

As far as Los Angeles, their largest trading partner is China, which made up 51 percent of its trade in 2018.

This just goes to show that the trade war between the U.S. and China is leaving a huge impact.

U.S. Customs Broker Arturo Dominguez says this is the effect of the tariff wars we have with China, which is why Laredo became the number one port.

Despite the trade war and long lines at the ports, Mayor Pete Saenz says Laredo still came out on top.

Saenz says they are aware of their challenges with infrastructure. As part of the committee, he says they are developing a route for trade to flow efficiently.

The mayor says to improve the flow of import and exports that pass through our area and into the U.S., the Texas Border Trade Advisory Committee will work on an action plan by the end of 2020.

_{Source: kgns.tv}