Port Houston Rises as New Port Tariff Rules Speed up Container Throughput

According to Port Houston officials, February of 2026 cargo volumes rose 2% from 2025 as the port continues to improve its overall terminal efficiency, according to FreightWaves. One efficiency the port commissioners added at their March 23 commissioners meeting was the reduction of “free time” at their Barbours Cut and Bayport terminals.

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Free-time reduction was one of two amendments added to the Rates, Rules, and Regulations Governing the Houston Ship Channel and the Public Owned Wharves. The tariff amendments included:

• Clarifications of placard requirements for battery-powered vehicles transported through the container terminals.
  
  
• Reduce free time for loaded and imported refrigerated containers requiring power, which affects storage charges and dwell times for reefer containers.

Chief Port Operations Officer, Rayn Mariacher, briefly addressed the amendment changes. “This aligns our rules with other major markets and supports the shippers’ needs to expedite the handling of these commodity types.

“We want to be a transit facility, not a storage facility. More throughput creates more economic activity and jobs. These projects do more than move ships. They sustain American jobs, increase the economy, and increase national security while supporting domestic manufacturing.”

Except for August, The Port Houston commissioners meet every month.

U.S.-Mexico Trade Continues Rising—$872 Billion in 2025.

The record mark set in 2025 follows the previous historic year of 2024, when U.S.–Mexico trade first crossed the $800 billion mark. Mexico remained the United States’ largest trading partner for the third consecutive year. The record high, $872.83 billion, marks the highest annual trade total the U.S. has ever recorded with any other nation.

Canada ranked second among U.S. trading partners in 2025, totaling $712.76 billion, a 6.36% decline from $761.2 billion during the same period in 2024. China placed third, dropping 28.81% year over year to $414.69 billion, compared with $582.49 billion in 2024.

Much of the commerce between the U.S. and Mexico continues to move through Port Laredo, Texas, the largest inland port in the U.S., and the epicenter of southern border trade between the two countries.

In December, shipments between Mexico and Port Laredo totaled $26.24 billion, representing more than 97% of the port’s total trade.

Among the top commodities crossing through Laredo:

• Computers and computer components
• Motor vehicle parts
• Cell phones and electronics
• Industrial equipment and electrical components
• Passenger vehicles