Trump’s tariffs bite at quiet US ports
By AFP
May 2, 2025
The usual choreography of cranes at the Port of Los Angeles is stumbling thanks to swingeing tariffs imposed by Donald Trump - Copyright AFP Alfredo ESTRELLA
Romain FONSEGRIVES
At the Port of Los Angeles, the frenetic choreography of cranes unloading containers from Asia has slowed to a tiptoe, and the noise of the busiest docks in the US is quieting.
“You could hear a pin drop, it’s very unusual,” Port Director Gene Seroka told AFP.
By this unofficial barometer, the American economy faces slowdown under US President Donald Trump amid his trade war with China.
Along with the next-door Port of Long Beach, the area represents the biggest gateway in the United States for goods from China and the rest of Asia.
That has made it among the first victims to a burgeoning crisis threatening to disrupt the lives of millions of Americans.
Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs — and the retaliation launched by other countries — has cowed importers, whose usual orders for furniture, toys, and clothing have dwindled.
For the week of May 4, the Port of Los Angeles will receive up to 35 percent less cargo compared with the same period last year, Seroka said.
The Port of Long Beach says for the entire month of May it is expecting a 30 percent drop in imports.
Dozens of ships have cancelled their voyages to these ports.
“Many retailers and manufacturers alike have hit the pause button, stopping all shipments from China,” said Seroka.
The Asian manufacturing giant is the hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs, with levies as high as 145 percent on some goods. Sales of Chinese goods to the US last year totaled more than $500 billion, according to Beijing.
And while sales may not be going up this year, prices undoubtedly will.
“Effectively, the cost of a product made in China now is two and a half times more expensive than it was just last month,” said Seroka.
– Empty shelves –
Trump last month announced a range of differing tariffs against nearly all countries in the world — including an island populated mostly by penguins — using a formula that baffled economists.
He reversed course a few days later and left a blanket 10 percent rate against most of the planet.
That extra cost, which is paid by the importer of a product, not by the seller, will affect trade across the United States.
“This is not just a West Coast issue,” warned Long Beach Port Director Mario Cordero.
“It affects every port, whether it’s in the East or in the Gulf” of Mexico, which Trump has decreed should be known as the Gulf of America.
At the start of the year, Long Beach and Los Angeles saw American companies scurry to get ahead of tariffs that Trump promised on the campaign trail.
Cargo volumes surged as they tried to build up as much untaxed inventory as possible.
But as the tariffs begin to bite, they will undoubtedly hold buying to eat into that inventory.
Without a reversal from the White House that would re-open the trade spigot, that could mean shortages that consumers will start to notice, and soon, according to Seroka.
“American importers, especially in the retail sector, are telling me that they have about five to seven weeks of normal inventory on hand today,” he said.
“If this trade dispute goes on for any length of time, we’ll likely see fewer selections on store shelves and online buying platforms.
“The impact on American consumers will be less choice and higher prices,” he said.
“The American consumer is going to get hit right in the wallet.”
– ‘We’re angry at Donald Trump’ –
For Antonio Montalbo, one of the 900,000 logistics workers in Southern California, the ordeal has already begun.
As the owner of a small trucking company, he needs to replace the starter on one of his vehicles; the part, made in China, now costs twice as much.
Trump has “created a hostile environment at the port for the drivers,” says the 37-year-old.
“We’re angry at Donald Trump. He needs to go check out the country a little bit, because he has a lot of angry truck drivers.
“It seems like he doesn’t care about the public or the working class.”
Between skyrocketing maintenance costs and the fall-off in work, he estimates he could be laying off staff within six months.
Montalbo says he voted for Trump last November because he was fed up with inflation, and trusted him to fix the economy.
“I thought that he was a businessman.
“Now we have something worse than inflation, called tariffs.”
Mexican mega-port confronts Trump’s tariff storm
ByAFP
May 2, 2025
Members of the navy patrol the Lazaro Cardenas port on Mexico's Pacific coast - Copyright AFP Alfredo ESTRELLA
Yussel Gonzalez
At dawn, container ships from Asia unload at a huge Pacific port in Mexico that so far appears to be weathering the storm unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Members of the navy patrol the waters off Lazaro Cardenas, which for years has also been a gateway for drug flows that Mexico is under pressure from Trump to stop.
The port, which covers an area of water and land the size of several thousand football fields, handles thousands of vehicles and even more auto parts.
Millions of other goods from various industries and countries also arrive at the port.
As well as the logistical challenge, Mexican authorities face mounting pressure from Trump to tackle trafficking of drugs or their precursors hidden in imported goods.
The importance of Lazaro Cardenas — located in Michoacan, one of Mexico’s most violent states — reflects the country’s deep integration with the United States and Canada thanks to decades of free trade agreements.
“It’s a strategic logistics point,” Joel Mendez, the port’s operations manager, told AFP during a tour of the facilities.
The port is connected to a railroad that extends to the United States and Canada, so a container can arrive in Chicago in seven days.
– Expansion planned –
Lazaro Cardenas has become a major competitor to the Port of Long Beach in California, according to local authorities.
So far there is no sign of a slowdown at the Mexican port, its operator says.
Container throughput increased 11 percent between January and March, when Mexico was already in Trump’s sights.
There are plans to expand the port’s size by 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) — around 900 football fields.
It already handles the most vehicle shipments of any Mexican seaport, accounting for 35 percent of the national total.
It also processes inputs for the steel industry, another sector targeted by Trump’s tough trade policy.
ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, has a presence in Lazaro Cardenas.
Though Trump excluded Mexico from his steep “reciprocal tariffs” — and this week eased auto import duties — its steel and aluminum exports are subject to a 25 percent tariff.
That is a major challenge for a country that is home to plants operated by major foreign automakers such as Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW.
Despite fears of an economic downturn, Mexico’s economy avoided a recession in the first quarter of the year, growing 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, a preliminary estimate showed Wednesday.
– Drug searches –
Dozens of soldiers inspected products in a special area of the port, which in 2013 was taken over by the military after it became a destination for chemical precursors used to produce crystal meth.
Trump has linked his tariffs in part to the need for Mexico to do more to tackle trafficking of another synthetic drug, the deadly opioid fentanyl, as well as illegal migration.
A soldier at the port took samples from big sacks of fishmeal, placing them in a machine than can detect illegal substances.
“Cocaine and cannabis are the two substances that have been seized the most in the port,” a Mexican navy officer said on condition of anonymity.
In October, the navy announced it had seized more than 8.3 tonnes of drugs in the Pacific southwest of Lazaro Cardenas — a record for a single operation at sea.
Authorities are focused on chemicals that can be used to produce both legal medications and synthetic drugs.
Port workers are preparing for the industry’s peak season, between May and June, when companies export and import millions of products in anticipation of the year-end holidays.
Despite the chill winds from Trump’s trade war, “the port will continue to grow,” Mendez predicted.
