In her State of the Port of Oakland speech, Port of Oakland Executive Director Kristi McKenney said her top priority in 2026 is negotiating new lease agreements with the Port’s three largest terminals.

The three terminals are Oakland International Container Terminal, TraPac, and Everport: “We have three primary terminal operators. And right now, my number one priority is working in partnership with those terminal operators to get three new long-term leases in Oakland. So, that’s going to be the focus. As this year comes to a close, we’re going to have new leases with these terminal operators that bring massive investments to Oakland.”

New Cranes at TraPac

McKenney explained: “We already have investments coming to Oakland. Pretty soon, you’re going to see two new 440-foot cranes, raised above the TraPac terminal. I am very excited to see that, and these are the first European-built cranes on the West Coast. A few months from now, two more cranes are going to come and be erected.”

In January, the Port of Oakland welcomed two new container cranes at its TraPac terminal, marking the first time European-built ship-to-shore cranes have been deployed on the US West Coast. The new Liebherr cranes, “manufactured in Ireland, will make that work faster and more energy-efficient, helping the Port operate more smoothly while reducing environmental impacts. Once operational, the cranes will stand more than 440 feet tall—about the height of a 40-to-45-story building—allowing TraPac to handle today’s largest container ships more efficiently by improving reach and enabling containers to be moved more smoothly and consistently, helping reduce time at berth. The cranes are fully electric, which helps reduce reliance on fossil fuels and supports the Port of Oakland’s ongoing efforts to cut emissions while modernizing its infrastructure,” according to a Port announcement.

“These new cranes represent an important investment in the future of the terminal,” said Cameron Thorpe, CEO of TraPac. “They improve efficiency today while helping move the Port toward a greener future.”

“We are very excited, and this is part of the Port’s broader modernization efforts,” said Bryan Brandes, Maritime Director at the Port of Oakland. “We’re focused on making improvements that support reliable operations and long-term environmental goals.”

Meanwhile, McKenney said a new crane will be arriving and will be erected at the Oakland International Container Terminal operated by Stevedoring Services of America (SSA): “In the coming year, we’ll be able to also welcome SSA’s new crane, and that comes on top of cranes that they brought in a few years ago.”

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The United States is facing growing isolation from its international trading partners because of the Trump administration’s tariff policies, resulting in container volume declines at US ports, according to Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Impact on US Trade and Port Volumes

Jensen was speaking to the Propeller Club of Northern California (PCNC) on February 3rd, where he said the non-stop tariff threats by the Trump administration are undermining US credibility in the world. “The way this is now being perceived is to be quite blunt — nobody is really taking it seriously. This is now being seen as not quite a daily occurrence, but an occurrence that happens multiple times a week. Unless this comes out in an executive order or as an actual rule, nobody cares anymore. This is taken as noise. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any impact. It absolutely does have an impact on container markets related to the United States, but solely related to the US.”

When the Trump administration announced a series of tariffs as part of the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ series in April 2025, it set in motion a rapid decline in US trade volumes: “And the effect of the trade war is very visible, very instant. The moment after we saw the so-called “Liberation Day” (tariffs). What we have seen during the trade war is that the rest of the world has been growing basically twice as fast as what could be expected. 

North American trades have been underwater ever since. This is for both imports and exports combined, mitigated somewhat by exports. As a consequence of the trade war, the share of volume attributable to North America is also in a rapid decline. So very simply, all over the world has been doing fantastic when it comes to container volume growth in 2025.”

The impact of these declines will especially impact smaller US ports, reducing their volumes, especially since these ports lack the cargo-handling capacity to load and unload mega container ships, Jensen said.

At the same time, he added, the imposition of US tariffs and the decline of the US dollar will accelerate inflation in the United States.

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