A container ship is presented at the Los Angeles port in Los Angeles, California, American on November 22, 2021.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Chinese expeditions to the west coast of the United States will fall next week because the impact of President Donald Trump's prices will lead companies to reduce their import orders.
Gene Seroka, executive director of the port of Los Angeles, said on Tuesday CNBC Squawk box“that it expects the volume of freckles entering more than a third next week compared to the same period in 2024.
“According to our own Port Optimizer, which measures the charges in Asia, we will be down just over 35% next week compared to last year. And this is a precipitated volume drop with a number of large American retailers stopping all the expeditions of China according to the prices,” said Seroka.
Expeditions from China represent around 45% of the Port of la company, although some transport companies will seek to collect goods at other points in Southeast Asia to try to fill their ships, said Seroka.
“In a realistic way, until an agreement or a framework can be reached with China, the volume coming out of there – except a few different products – will be at best very light,” said Seroka.
In addition to the lower volume of goods, Seroka said he expected about a quarter of the usual number of ships arriving at the port to be canceled in May.
Trump announced a sharp increase in prices on Chinese products on April 2, which led to climbing on both sides, which finally led to samples in the United States and in China more than 100% on many products from each other. The American secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, described the situation as “unbearable”, but there was no sign of substantial negotiations between the two countries.
Out of China shipping data had already started to Signal slowdown volume In the United States, alarming certain economists. The chief economist of the global management of Apollo, Torsten Slok, recently presented a calendar where weaker imports from China lead to layoffs in the transport and retail industries in the United States, empty shelves and a Recession this summer.
Seroka said he thought that American retailers have about five to seven weeks before the impact of reduced expeditions begin to bite, in part because companies have approached larger expeditions before Trump's pricing announcements.
“I do not see a complete vacuum on the shelves of stores or online when we buy. But if you are looking for a blue shirt, you could find 11 purple and a blue in a size that does not belong to you. So, we will start to see less choice on these shelves simply because we do not remain the variety of goods to come here,” said Seroka.
