Cnn
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Friday morning, port managers of the west coast told CNN a surprising spectacle: not a single cargo ship had left China with goods for the two main ports of the west coast in the last 12 hours. This has not happened from the pandemic.
Six days ago, 41 ships were to leave China for the San Pedro Bay complex, which includes both the port of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach in California. Friday was zero.
President Donald Trump’s trade war has imposed massive prices on most Chinese imports last month. This has led to fewer ships at sea carrying less cargo to American ports. For many companies, it is now too expensive to do business with China, one of the most important business partners in America.
Officials do not only concern the lack of ships leaving China, but the speed at which this number has dropped.
“This is the alarm,” said Mario Cordero, CEO of the Port de Long Beach. “We now see figures higher than we have attended in the pandemic” for cancellations and fewer ships.
The most frequented ports in the country are experiencing a sharp drop in cargo. The port of Long Beach experiences a decrease of 35 to 40% compared to the normal freight volume. The port of Los Angeles had a 31% volume drop this week, and the port of New York and Jersey says that it is also preparing for a slowdown. Wednesday, the port of Seattle said that it had no ship container in the port, another anomaly that has not occurred from the pandemic.
“This is because nothing is shipped,” said Port Commissioner Ryan Calkins, Kaitlan Collins de CNN.
US and Chinese trade representatives are expected to meet in Geneva this weekend for their first face-to-face meeting in order to descend the trade war. Most of China’s goods in the United States have a 145%rate, while most American exports to China are affected by a 125%rate. On Friday, President Donald Trump suggested reducing the rate rate with China to 80%, but said that the last mandates would be up to the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
For consumers, who face higher prices or shortages of certain articles, Cardeo says that an agreement cannot happen early enough.
“If things don’t change quickly, I’m talking about the uncertainty we see, then we may see empty products on the shelves. This will now be felt by the consumer in the next 30 days,” said Cordero.
More than 63% of the cargo that flows into the port of Long Beach is China – most of all American port. But this number is down 72% in 2016 while retailers move away from China for simmer trade tensions.
Despite this, China still represents a major source of imports in the United States. Maersk, the second largest maritime line in the world, told CNN that the volume of freight between the United States and China has dropped from 30 to 40% Compared to normal.
“If we are not starting to see a de -escalation of the situation with China, if we do not start to see more of these commercial transactions, we could be in a situation where some of these effects become more rooted and are more unfavorable,” said the CEO of Maersk, Vincent Clerc.
–Cnn Maisie Linford contributed to this report
