Gold, which goes by the symbol Au on the period table, as well as computers for the AI industry and GLP-1 drugs for weight loss helped put two airports atop the U.S. ranking of ports, a first.
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Two U.S. airports, Chicago’s O’Hare International and New York’s JFK International, ranked first and second among all the nation’s airports, seaports and border crossings in 2025, something that certainly had not happened in decades and more likely ever.
- Credit AI with an avalanche of computer hardware imports associated with the buildout of data centers for the nascent artificial intelligence industry.
- Credit “GLP-1 drugs” like Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic for feeding an enormous appetite for Americans interested in losing weight.
- Credit gold – Au on the periodic table – which experienced its most rapid price increase in four decades last year, and gold trade tied to skittishness about the U.S. and global economy in the era of President Trump’s tariff war with the world.
Port Laredo in Texas was the nation’s No. 1-ranked port the previous two years – and for the fifth straight year its trade set a record in 2025. That was not enough for Port Laredo to remain No 1. It finished third despite its growing trade with Mexico, which accounts for 97% of its exports and imports.
For decades, prior to Port Laredo’s perch atop the rankings, that honor belonged to the Port of Los Angeles. That was until Trump’s first-term trade war against China shifted global trade patterns. In 2025, the Port of Los Angeles finished fourth, certainly its lowest ranking in many decades.
Whether the two airports – or even one airport – have ever ranked first among the nation’s 450-plus U.S. airports, seaports and border crossings can’t be determined with U.S. Census Bureau data used for this post because it only goes back to 2006 for the nation’s ports.
O’Hare aided by GLP-1 drugs, computers
That takes nothing away from what happened at O’Hare, which saw its trade grow 31.52% in 2025 to $388.22 billion. More than 75% of that total was imports, which increased 36.61%.
Just under 20% of that import total was the No. 1 import, a category that includes Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, which mimic the natural GLP-1 hormone in the body that stimulate insulin release. The overall U.S. increase was 224.28% from the previous year, with 96.16% of the imports in the category from Ireland and an even 97% flying into O’Hare.
O’Hare also benefited from AI-related imports – and it was not alone.
The broad computer category ranked third at O’Hare, with 17.40% of its imports in 2025. The 87.58% increase took the total to $51.46 billion.
Five airports register big increases
The increase helped O’Hare retain its top rank for computer imports despite five of the top 10 “ports” registering increases of more than 100%:
No. 2 Ysleta-Zaragoza Bridge outside El Paso, up 199.04%
No. 3 San Francisco International Airport, up 169.51%
No. 4 Port Laredo, up 129.61%
No. 5 Los Angeles International Airport, up 154.87%
No. 8 Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, up 223.82%
JFK story is about gold exports, imports
JFK International Airport, meanwhile, finished second behind O’Hare almost exclusively on the back of gold exports and imports.
U.S. exports of gold jumped from the 14th most valuable outbound shipment in 2024 to fifth most valuable in 2025 on a 171.52% increase. The total was $80.58 billion. Of that total, 82.22% left from JFK, bound primarily for Switzerland, where gold is processed and stored, and the United Kingdom.
It was JFK’s most valuable import, worth almost five times that of the second most valuable import, civilian aircraft and parts.
On the import side, the top two categories were essentially gold: a category that includes other precious metals but was more than 99% gold and the traditional gold category.
The former is described in Census data as being in a rectangular form while the latter is largely unwrought.
The total at JFK for those two in 2025 was $84.66 billion, with the former category increasing 281.57% and capturing 89.91% of the imports, and the latter at $16.64 billion and a 209.21% increase, with 55.12% of all U.S. imports.
Together, O’Hare’s and JFK’s ascent to the top of U.S. trade rankings tells a story about the country’s pivot in 2025. Two airports, not a seaport and not a border crossing, at least for now stand at the forefront of U.S. trade. They reflect the rising importance of high-value, fast-moving goods—from semiconductors and servers powering AI models to pharmaceuticals and gold that embody both innovation and caution in turbulent times.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2026/02/27/ai–glp-1–au-trade–a-first-top-2025-port-ranking-for-ord-and-jfk/
