A view of the shipping cranes at the port of Los Angeles on May 06, 2025 in San Pedro, California. Los Angeles and the ports of Long Beach see significant drops in the expected cargoos entering this week due to prices imposed by the Trump administration.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images from North America
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Justin Sullivan / Getty Images from North America
Each morning during the week outside the distribution office of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 13, dozens of Dock Workers meet, in the hope of working in the vast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Usually it is relatively easy to find – and workers receive a shift in white paper with details where to go and when to present themselves.
But Tuesday morning, many left empty hand.
“Less volume of freight containers means less work for us,” said Longshore worker Charlie Camacho. His work is generally to load and unload shipment containers. “So we feel it, we certainly feel it,” he said.
Together, these two ports include an extremely busy port complex – the port of Los Angeles alone is the most frequented in Western hemisphere. But in month Due, since the prices against Chinese goods have opened – port managers here predict a drop in cargo. This week, they announced that it was down 35% compared to the same week of last year.
The immediate impact of the reduction in freight affects almost all companies around ports: trucking, shipping, distribution centers and others. But port managers say that this slowdown will soon be felt much more widely – by manufacturers and retailers across the country, as well as by consumers.
Decreased volume, local companies suffering
In 2024, about 31% From everything that has entered or left the United States in water shipping containers has gone through this port complex. Last year, ports managed 19.9 million these containers – but it was probably less in 2025.
Camacho, whose family worked in ports for three generations, spoke with the pride of working as part of this system.
“My grandmother was one of the first women to work in the ports,” he said. “I sometimes think I’m doing this for her.”
Asked about his chances of finding work on Tuesday, he was not optimistic-“Ah guy, like 25%, perhaps,” he replied.
He finally left the distribution office without concert.
It is not only long -shore workers who are affected – a drop in cargo affects a huge ecosystem of companies related to the import and export of goods in southern California.
Frank Groves is an independent seller who earns his money by selling gloves and safety equipment to port workers. He was also at the Dispatch Hall on Tuesday, trying to find customers – but he says that business has dropped almost 75% in recent weeks.
“No selling really. If they don’t work, I don’t make money,” he said.
Frank Groves waits outside the Local distribution office 13 of the ILWU so that workers can buy gloves and safety equipment. He is one of the many whose income has been affected by the drop in cargo.
Steve Futterman
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Steve Futterman
ROB WALPOLEBusiness is also down. It is the CEO of customs Goods, which is based in Carson, in California nearby and manages the product shipments once they arrived at the ports.
“We have seen significant discounts of import shipping volumes in this country,” he said. “It means much fewer volumes that we will manage on behalf of our customers.”
“You call it, they all go through our ports”
“The situation is not good,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the port of Los Angeles. “People are very worried, absolutely.“”
According to the port website1 in 12 jobs in Los Angeles and Long Beach is supported by ports. But their economic imprint Go far beyond Los Angeles and California.
The trucks align in the middle of stacks of shipping containers at the port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles in early April.
Jae C. Hong / AP
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Jae C. Hong / AP
“The impact of the port of Los Angeles on the city, the region and the country cannot be underestimated,” said Seroka. “The cargo that moves through this port reaches not only the 50 states, but each of our 435 Congress districts.”
This could include food, medical supplies, manufacturing components and finished products, according to Sal di Constanzo, representing working relationships for section 13 of the ILWU.
The port lists Furniture, automotive parts, clothing and electronics among their main imports.
“You call it, they all go through our ports,” said Da Constanzo.
According to Serka, large importers say that buyers could start to see shortages in four to six weeks, once stocks were stored before the prices are exhausted. He says they can also start to see significant price increases.
Long -term concerns
Even if the increased prices disappear, some of these problems could persist for a while, said Diane Middleton. It is a former commissioner of the port of Los Angeles City who has been working with ports for over 50 years.
“You don’t only have ships lined up like taxis,” she said. “You have to reserve ships. You need to specify for a while. Once you have cut it all, you cannot bring it back in a minute.”
And in the long term, she added, commercial models several decades can be changed permanently. She thinks that even if the United States will always be a desired customer, countries like China can seek other people with fewer political upheavals in the trade sector to do business in the future.
