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 depressing trade volumes.

Why it matters: the port is a major local and regional employer and logistics hub. Seroka said the port complex supports a sizeable fraction of Southern California employment: "1 in 9 people in Southern California go to work every day with what we do at the Port Complex," and he repeated the port's rule-of-thumb that "for every 4 containers we move it creates a job." Council members pressed for concrete impacts to workers and households; Seroka said he could provide calculations showing the local economic effects of reduced hours and lost casual work.

Seroka projected near-term declines in ship calls and cargo. He said many large importers have halted new imports from China and that the port expects to see the near-term effect in arrivals within about two weeks: "my projection is the cargo volume will be down about 35% compared to the current run rate." He also told the committee that for May the port was already tracking roughly 20 canceled sailings out of an average of about 80 monthly calls.

Committee members emphasized the ripple effects on manufacturing, agriculture and local construction supply chains. Seroka highlighted the vulnerability of California agriculture and manufacturers to retaliatory tariffs, and said the Port of Los Angeles and its neighbors account for a significant share of U.S. containerized trade: "Between our neighbors at the Port Of Long Beach and the Port Of Los Angeles, 40 percent of containerized imports come through this gateway." He urged convening stakeholders — shipping lines, terminal operators, labor and community leaders — to discuss mitigation and to press for federal clarity.

Formal action: the committee adopted the council motion directing the Port of Los Angeles to focus on current and anticipated tariff impacts, effects on employment and local supply chains, and mitigation strategies. The roll call showed Councilmember Park and Councilmember McCosker voting "yes"; Councilmember Rodriguez was absent. The clerk recorded the item as approved on consent (2 ayes).

Seroka stressed that the port is preparing to invest through cycles and highlighted investments in zero-emissions projects and infrastructure but said that uncertainty will affect private-sector investment and the port workforce: "we have no straight line effect as to where this end game will be. And a lot of folks are just sitting in a capacity of wait and see." He offered to provide follow-up data requested by council members on jobs, payroll and local spending implications.

The committee heard no separate action on the Port of Los Angeles quarterly verbal report (item 1) beyond discussion; the motion tied to item 2 was approved on consent.

Looking ahead, Seroka and council members discussed convening a roundtable of industry, labor and community representatives to surface near-term responses and possible relief measures for affected workers and businesses. The committee did not set a formal deadline in the hearing beyond standard budget-season follow-up and staff reports.