Tag Archives: Gene Seroka

Washington Post: This Los Angeles port is among the first casualties of Trump’s trade war

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Empty berths and idle cranes show the effects of sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods.

The number of shipping containers that arrived at the nation’s top container port last week was roughly one-third lower than during the same period last year — a sharper decline than during the depths of the Great Recession. More than one-fifth of the giant ships that were scheduled to call in Los Angeles this month have already canceled, and that number is expected to rise.

Trump’s 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods — and Beijing’s triple-digit retaliation — are bringing a swift halt to the trans-Pacific flow of electronics, clothing, furniture, industrial parts and everything else that the world’s two largest economies exchange.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/11/los-angeles-port-tariffs-trade-tensions

Fortune: Trump calls emptying U.S. ports a ‘good thing’ despite supply-chain panic because ‘that means we lose less money’

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As logistics professionals sound the alarms on emptying U.S. ports as a result of steep tariffs, President Donald Trump said those major import slowdowns are actually a boon.

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Trump not only acknowledged the shipping slowdown in a Thursday press briefing announcing a trade deal with the UK; he seemed heartened by it.

“We’re seeing as a result that ports here in the U.S., the traffic has really slowed and now thousands of dockworkers and truck drivers are worried about their jobs,” a reporter said in the press briefing.

“That means we lose less money,” Trump said. “When you say it slowed down, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Trump is deranged!

Trump calls emptying U.S. ports a ‘good thing’ despite supply-chain panic because ‘that means we lose less money’
The president has repeatedly claimed the U.S. has a $1 trillion trade deficit with China, though economists argue a trade deficit isn’t inherently negative.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-calls-emptying-u-ports-180609056.html

CNN: The first boats carrying Chinese goods with 145% tariffs are arriving in LA. Shipments are cut in half. Expect shortages soon

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American consumers are on the cusp of tough choices because of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Ships now pulling into US harbors from China are the first to be subject to the massive tariffs that America is imposing on most Chinese imports. That means, in a matter of weeks, consumers will face higher prices and shortages of certain items.

Imports from China have fallen dramatically since Trump imposed steep tariffs – particularly since last month, when the tit-for-tat trade war sent the tariff on most Chinese goods up to 145%.

“This week, we’re down about 35% compared to the same time last year, and these cargo ships coming in are the first ones to be attached to the tariffs that were levied against China and other locations last month,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNN Tuesday. “That’s why the cargo volume is so light.”

The drop-off in imports from China on the boats now coming into port is more than 50%, Seroka said. Many importers have canceled previous orders because US businesses aren’t interested in paying the steep tariff, which can more than double the price of Chinese goods.

The Port of LA had expected 80 ships to arrive in May, but 20% of those have been canceled, Seroka said. Customers have already canceled 13 sailings for June.

The first boats carrying Chinese goods with 145% tariffs are arriving in LA. Shipments are cut in half. Expect shortages soon
American consumers are on the cusp of tough choices because of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/ar-AA1EgCdN