On Friday morning, West Coast port officials reported a startling fact to the media: in the past 12 hours, no cargo ships have left China with goods destined for California’s two major ports.
“This is cause for alarm,” said Mario Cordero, CEO of the Port of Long Beach, adding, ”This has not happened since the pandemic.”
China has so far been a major trading partner of the United States. Just a week ago, 41 ships loaded with cargo were headed to the San Pedro Bay complex, which includes both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping company, told the media that the volume of traffic between the United States and China has now decreased by 30 to 40 percent.
Causing this decline are the heavy tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump last month on most Chinese imports. For many American companies, it is now too expensive to do business with China.
Port officials have reported to the media that they are concerned about both the lack of ships leaving China and the speed with which traffic has declined.
U.S. and Chinese trade representatives will meet in Geneva this weekend for their first talks in an effort to curb the trade war. Currently, in fact, most goods shipped from China to the United States are subject to a 145 percent tariff, while U.S. exports to China face a 125 percent tariff. Last Friday, Trump suggested lowering the tariff rate with China to 80 percent, but clarified that the final agreement will depend on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In the meantime, this will hit consumers hard, they will be forced to face much higher costs and shortages of many products.
