East Coast seaports are ramping up their capabilities

While many eyes are on trade talks between our country and China, America’s port leaders are positioning their seaports to compete for increasing volumes of container traffic.

After container shipments surged in November — primarily from pre-tariff contracts —they plunged by year end, an impact of the U.S. and China trade war.

Outbound container volume at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell 11.8 percent in November from the same month in 2017. It was a decline after seven straight months of export growth.

But looking ahead, the stiff competition between east and west coast...