CEO: Port of Everett pushes forward, despite looming challenges from tariffs

EVERETT — Port of Everett CEO Lisa Lefeber touched on a variety of topics during the port’s annual report Wednesday night, including tariffs, revenue challenges, port projects and dissatisfaction with the state’s decision to award a lucrative ferry contract to an out-of-state shipmaker.

The “waterside” chat, held at the Hotel Indigo Seattle Waterfront in Everett, explored six key themes: economic development, international trade, real estate, tourism, workforce development and the environment.

Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump have caused at least a 10% drop in cargo revenue at the Port of Everett with the situation expected to get worse, Lefeber said Wednesday night.

Lefeber said the tariffs have confused the port’s major users, companies in South Korea, Japan and Canada, and had led them to delay goods that they ship through the port.

The Port of Everett is the third-largest container port in Washington, and among the products it handles are aerospace parts, forestry products, cement and heavy machinery. It does not handle consumer goods.

Ever since his inaugural address where Trump promised to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” tariffs have remained a focus of Trump’s second term. The president expects to issue new reciprocal tariffs linked to specific countries on Aug. 1.

“You can’t just flip a switch and change completely global trade routes,” Lefeber said Wednesday. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Because ships and their contents were already on the water before the tariffs were implemented, the effect from tariffs have been slow to develop. 

“Quarter 3 is going to be brutal,” she said, noting that cargo volume has declined another 10% from the first two quarters. The port does not yet have expected cargo revenue figures from the third quarter.

But the effect of the tariffs is reflected in the port’s cargo revenue of $13.4 million for the first six months of this year, down from $15.3 million from the same period in 2024. The port receives around 60% of its revenue from its international seaports.

In anticipation of the tariffs, officials reduced the overall budget for the Port by 10% for 2025, said Port spokesperson Kate Anderson. The Port’s budget of $73.2 million this year is down from $83 million in 2024.

Revenue reductions are delaying projects at the port, including the electrification of Cargo Pier 3 from 2025 to 2026. Construction of a new restaurant complex that had been scheduled for 2027 and design work on new roadway projects have been delayed indefinitely, Anderson said.

Other new restaurants, however, in the Waterfront Place section of the Port, could be open by the end of the year, Lefeber said. She said that four restaurant leases have been signed in two new port buildings and a fifth signing is in progress. Lefeber said a sixth restaurant spot is still available.

The CEO also said that the port plans to start construction of 300 new units of housing in the Millwright district in November. The new housing would more than double the 266 units of housing at the port in Waterfront Place.

On Wednesday, Lefeber also criticized Gov. Bob Ferguson’s decision to choose a Florida shipbuilder over a Whidbey Island company for a contract for the construction of new electric ferries for Washington state.

The Florida company, Eastern Shipbuilding, bid $714.5 million to build three new ferries while Nicholas Shipbuilding based on Whidbey Island had bid over $1 billion.

Lefeber said a port study released on May 28 from Martin Associates of Pennsylvania showed that awarding the contract to Nicholas would have resulted in 1,300 new jobs, $31 million collected in new state and local taxes, $430 million in business revenue and $385 million in local purchases.

“I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that having the ferry contract go out-of-state was a huge blow to Snohomish County and the Washington State economy,” she said.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.