Port of Los Angeles warns tariffs could trim cargo by a third; council adopts request for focused impact analysis

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told a Los Angeles City committee that sweeping tariff actions and ongoing federal trade uncertainty are already reducing cargo volumes and could sharply affect port-related jobs and local supply chains. The committee adopted a motion asking the executive director to provide focused analysis of tariff impacts and mitigation strategies.

Seroka said the port has seen behavior changes by importers for about nine months, with larger retailers front-loading inventories ahead of expected tariff changes and smaller importers unable to do the same. "China represents 45% of our business portfolio at the Port of Los Angeles," Seroka said. He added that China's tariffs had, at one point in the discussion, been raised to 145% and that, as a result, "if you import a product from China today it's 2 and a half times more expensive than it was last month." He warned that those increases, plus retaliatory tariffs from other countries, already are…