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Looks like a big, fat, punch in the mouth to commerce. I would expect similar drops in traffic at all the West Coast ports, with similar knock-on effects. Container ships that arrive to LA/LB often work their way up the coast before heading back to Asia from Seattle/Tacoma.The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest in the Western Hemisphere, processes about 17 percent of everything the United States imports or exports in shipping containers. The adjoining Port of Long Beach accounts for another 14 percent. Over the years, a whole ecosystem has arisen to support the loading and unloading of the cars, clothes, electronic gadgets, and other things that people want. There are workers and warehouses, trucks and loading pads, security structures and rail lines.
Seroka estimated that cargo arrivals would soon be down 35 percent over the same time last year. At the moment, the drop in traffic seems likelier to accelerate than to reverse. The number of cargo ships canceling port calls or entire voyages is on the rise. A number of shipments now under way were instigated before Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement, on April 2. According to Forto, a cargo-management and -tracking company, reservations for shipping products must normally be placed two weeks before a cargo vessel launches. The trip from China from California typically takes two or more additional weeks. In other words, the full effects of U.S. tariff policies on maritime traffic may not be apparent for some time.
/snip
Tariffs don’t just reduce the flow of goods coming into the country; they also cause an atrophying of the logistics system that moves products into, out of, and around the United States. “Less cargo volume, less jobs. That’s the rule here,” Mario Cordero, CEO of the Port of Long Beach, said recently, describing how one in nine jobs in the greater Los Angeles region arises directly or indirectly from its ports. “Port complexes are like your baby toe on your foot,” Peter Neffenger, the former commander of the Coast Guard sector that includes Los Angeles and Long Beach, told me. “You don’t think about it until you break it one day and realize, ‘I can’t walk.’”
Like the shipping business into and out of Los Angeles, the nationwide trucking industry is slowing down, because drivers have a lot less cargo to move. Without inventory arriving or en route, small businesses will falter; bigger industries will shrink; shelves will be empty.
© 2015 Mutual Fund Observer. All rights reserved.
© 2015 Mutual Fund Observer. All rights reserved. Powered by Vanilla
Comments
Before his passing Steve Jobs said that iPhones cannot be made in US profitably for the same reasons.
I would expect to see more empty shelves within retail stores. Smaller retail stores might not survive this.
But hey, you just buy 2 dolls instead of 30...right?
Bought some extra TP at Walmart today. Read somewhere that GOP staffers in DC are stocking up.
There was still plenty available today. Most people aren't thinking about tariffs on Canadian soft-wood timber at the moment. Let's hope we never have to.
I also stocked up on olive oil. But that's more to do with inflationary psychology than worries about shortages, assuming they can get the product to us from Europe in something besides Chinese built/flagged vessels.
Only $3.20 / 100 sheets.
Amazon TP
While shopping there, you could also purchase a toilet brush with a similar theme.
Amazon Brush
Been stocking up on TP & paper towels, just in case this thing goes sideways. Clearly I am not alone.
I should probably stock up on TP & paper towels at Costco.
Have plenty of Kleenex already.
Better safe than sorry!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/ar-AA1EgCdN
maybe its some sort of homage by cowering media ?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/26/trump-shark-ev-boat-electrocution/
(and no, I never served on a Navy ship)
I was trained by an old Coastie. Don't talk like a trucker. Don't talk like a cop. Don't talk like you're in the army. Never raise your voice because the mike doesn't work that way, develop a presence, etc.
Trump trade tariffs slump widens to ‘nearly all U.S. exports,’ supply chain data shows
PUBLISHED TUE, MAY 6 20257:32 AM EDT UPDATED TUE, MAY 6 20259:54 AM EDT
Lori Ann LaRocco
KEY POINTS
*An exports slide that began in early 2025 has reached most ports across the U.S. and nearly all export market products as the trade impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs worsens, with agriculture the hardest hit.
*As businesses cancel orders from China, U.S. imports continue to plummet, with a 43% week-over-week drop in containers through April 28.
*“We haven’t seen anything like this since the disruptions of summer 2020,” said Kyle Henderson, CEO of trade tracker Vizion. “That means goods expected to arrive in the next six to eight weeks simply won’t. With tariffs driving costs higher, small businesses are pausing orders. Products that once moved reliably are now twice as expensive, forcing importers into tough decisions,” he said.
(No references to "boats"!)