By IJEOMA OPARA
Capital News Service
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Automobiles and light trucks alone accounted for about 30% of revenue that the Port of Baltimore generated in 2025.
Although the port has consistently been a top U.S. automobile shipper, tariffs imposed on imported goods in 2025, including automobiles, combined with the effects of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in 2024 to raise concerns.
“We expect to see impacts with our container business, especially from China,” Richard Scher, director of communications at the Maryland Port Administration, said in a statement in 2024.
But according to the administration, the port generated more than $65 billion in 2025. Of that figure, almost $20 billion came from handling automobiles and light trucks.
At least 1.5 million tons of automobiles and light trucks moved through the Port of Baltimore in 2025; only 3% of total cargo handled throughout the year.
Coal, construction and agricultural equipment were other top performing commodities in 2025.
“Once again, Maryland’s Port of Baltimore proves it is one of our nation’s top economic assets as it continues to rebound from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024,” Gov. Wes Moore said, announcing 2025 as a banner year on March 24.
Rebound from tariffs, bridge collapse
Speaking on behalf of Jonathan Daniels, Maryland Port Administration’s executive director, Scher told Capital News Service on Friday that dealing with the effect of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and tariffs in the industry have been “very challenging.”
In 2024, the port ceased operations for about three months after a cargo ship struck the bridge in March, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers.
Total container tonnage dropped below 2,000 immediately after the collapse, triggering fears of economic decline in the region. Operations picked back up and by the end of the year, the port had moved more than 45 million tons of cargo.
But when President Donald Trump introduced auto tariffs in 2025, the industry was again faced with uncertainty.
“The inconsistent, almost day-to-day changes of them have been hard on our industry,” Sher said of the tariffs.
He told Capital News Service that business moved fast in the first quarter of 2025, as shippers pushed out a lot of cargo in anticipation of tariff hikes.
“That good first quarter helped us through the rest of the year when tariffs were being implemented,” he said.
While the port has outperformed itself in 2024, it did not catch up with the 52 million tons handled in 2023 before the bridge collapsed. Still, officials are optimistic that more growth lies ahead.
Scher described the completion of the Howard Street Tunnel Project as a game-changing initiative for the industry.
The project will increase the height of the 131-year-old tunnel to allow trains transporting shipping containers stacked on top of each other to travel between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The administration expects the project to add 13,000 jobs to the industry.
“We are very excited about what’s on the horizon,” he said.
