The Port of Los Angeles is expecting a 35% drop in cargo from Asia next week, the facility’s executive director said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday.
“It’s a precipitous drop in volume with a number of major American retailers stopping all shipments from China based on the tariffs,” said Gene Seroka.
Seroka said retailers have told him they have just a six- to eight-week supply of inventory at this point.
He said that until some accord or framework is reached with China, the volume coming out of that country, except for some commodities, would be very light at best.
“United States consumers and manufacturers alike will find difficult decisions in the weeks and months to come if policies don’t change,” Seroka said.
The adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the busiest container ports in the Western Hemisphere and are the preferred entry gates for goods from China.
But there are other active ports up and down the coast. San Diego’s port, for instance, services specialty cargo. Examples that move through the Port’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal include auto and aviation parts, bauxite, bananas, sugar and more. In addition, one in 10 imported vehicles in the U.S. comes through San Diego.
Reuters contributed to this report.
