California ports see surge in imports ahead of Trump tariffs
Edvard Pettersson
LOS ANGELES (CN) — The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Tuesday reported a surge in imports in November as retailers stock up ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, Canada and other countries.
Imports through Long Beach rose 22% from a year ago to a record 432,823 twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard measure used for container cargo. At the adjacent Port of LA, imports spiked 19% last month from November 2023 to 458,165 twenty-foot equivalent units.
Importers have been front-loading cargo through Los Angeles as a hedge against the potential tariffs, Gene Seroka, the port's executive director said at a media briefing.
The concern and unpredictability surrounding the expected tariffs will continue to dominate global shipping next year, according to Seroka, but the earliest implementation time for them may not be until the summer or the third quarter of 2025.
"After an extended period of front-loading, what we may see is an eventual drop or decline in volume, similar to what we saw when tariffs first took effect back in 2018," he said. "We have some experience in this area."
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don't stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across the U.S. borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
Likewise, Trump said last month that he will slap China with an additional tariff of 10% on top of any current ones until it prevents the flow of illegal drugs, specifically fentanyl, into the United States.
Another factor driving the increase in imports at the West Coast ports is the uncertainty whether dockworkers at the East and Gulf Coast will go on strike once the temporary contract they've been working under expires on Jan. 15.
Importers have been rerouting cargo to the West Coast to avoid possible delays if the International Longshoremen’s Association calls a strike at the ports of New York-New Jersey, Savannah, Georgia, Norfolk, Virginia, and Houston, among others.
“Either a strike or new tariffs would be a blow to the economy and retailers are doing what they can to avoid the impact of either for as long as they can,” Jonathan Gold of the National Retail Federation said last week. “We hope that both can be avoided, but bringing in cargo early is a prudent step to mitigate the impact on our industry, consumers and the nation’s economy."
An additional complication for the labor standoff at those ports, according to Seroka, is that the new administration is coming on board just days after the temporary contract expires, and it might take weeks or months for new cabinet members to be in place to prompt the union and the port operators to resolve their differences.
"One of the things we have noticed with the current administration is that Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su used a lot shuttle diplomacy, kept both sides at the table, kept talk moving forward in a variety of collective bargaining environments," he said. "I trust that incoming President Trump will have the same mindset of keeping folks at the table and moving the dialogue forward."
The twin ports in the San Pedro Bay, the busiest container ports in the U.S., are expected to surpass or closely match the record volume of cargo that arrived in 2021 during the height of Covid-19 pandemic, when U.S. consumers stuck at home and unable to go on vacation spent their money on furniture, home electronics and exercise equipment shipped from Asia.
However, unlike 2021, this time around there hasn't been noteworthy congestion at the ports, let alone dozens of container ships idling off the coast of Southern California.
“Retailers are keeping the shelves stocked and shoppers are able to purchase gifts for the holidays thanks to the outstanding efforts by our dedicated workforce and terminal operators,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Bonnie Lowenthal said in a statement. “As we enter the new year, we will continue to deliver extraordinary customer service and build for a sustainable future.”