LOS ANGELES, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Ocean imports to the

United States may have peaked in July after retailers raced to

bring in goods from China and elsewhere to avoid potentially

hefty tariffs on holiday-related products, the top executive

from the busiest U.S. seaport said on Wednesday.

Containerized imports to the Port of Los Angeles, the front

door to many U.S. imports, jumped 8% to 544,000 20-foot

equivalent units (TEUs) in July.

"Much of this volume was fueled by importers hustling to

bring in cargo ahead of potential tariff hikes later this month

and beyond," Gene Seroka, the port's executive director, said on

Wednesday.

"Everything is already here for the holiday season," said

Zachary Rogers, lead author of the Logistics Managers' Index,

which serves as an early indicator for economic activity in the

United States.

President Donald Trump's tariff policies, particularly

short-lived 145% levies on goods from China, have wrecked havoc

on U.S. imports as buyers either gorged on or starved themselves

of goods to avoid higher import duties.

The United States and China earlier this week extended their

tariff truce by another 90 days, easing the uncertainty

clouding the retail peak season for stocking stores with holiday

goods.

As a result, major shippers like Walmart ( WMT ), Target ( TGT )

and Home Depot ( HD ) appear to be breaking the

traditional holiday-related import pattern that tended to peak

from August to October.