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P<\/span>orts<\/strong> and ground terminals in nearly every state handle goods that are now or will likely soon be covered by import tariffs. Port executives worry that this could mean a slowdown in shipping that would have ripple effects on truckers and others whose jobs depend on trade.<\/p>\n The Associated Press analyzed government data and found that from the West Coast to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, at least 10 percent of imports at many ports could face new tariffs if President Donald Trump\u2019s proposals take full effect.<\/p>\n Since March, the U.S. has applied new tariffs of up to 25 percent on nearly $85 billion worth of steel and aluminum and various Chinese products, mostly goods used in manufacturing.<\/p>\n Trump said in a recent tweet, \u201cTariffs are working big time.\u201d He has argued that the tariffs will help protect American workers and force U.S. trading partners to change rules that the president insists are unfair to the United States.<\/p>\n In New Orleans, port officials say a tariff-related drop in shipments is real, not merely a forecast. Steel imports there have declined more than 25 percent from a year ago, according to the port\u2019s chief commercial officer, Robert Landry.<\/p>\n The port is scouting for other commodities it can import. But expectations appear to be low.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our business, steel is the ideal commodity,\u201d Landry said. \u201cIt\u2019s big, it\u2019s heavy, we charge by the ton so it pays well. You never find anything that pays as well as steel does.\u201d<\/p>\n The port of Milwaukee imports steel from Europe and ships out agricultural products from the Midwest.<\/p>\n Steel imports haven\u2019t dropped yet because they are under long-term contracts, said the port director, Adam Schlicht.<\/p>\n But there has been \u201can almost immediate halt\u201d in outbound shipments of corn because of retaliatory duties imposed by the European Union on American products.<\/p>\n Much of the corn, he said, \u201cis just staying in silos. They are filled to the brim.\u201d<\/p>\n Many other ports have been humming along and even enjoyed an unexpected bump in imports during June and July as U.S. businesses moved up orders to ship before the new tariffs took effect. That started with manufacturing goods and is now spreading to retail items for back-to-school and Christmas.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of my retail customers are forward-shipping the best they can to offset proposed tariffs,\u201d says Peter Schneider, executive vice president of T.G.S. Transportation, a trucking company in Fresno, California.<\/p>\n Port officials were encouraged by this week\u2019s announcement that the United States and Mexico had reached a preliminary agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, hoping it might lead to reduced trade barriers. Canada\u2019s participation in any new deal to replace NAFTA, though, remains a major question mark.<\/p>\n The port officials continue to worry, though, that Trump will make good on a plan to expand tariffs to an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports \u2014 a list that includes fish and other foods, furniture, carpets, tires, rain jackets and hundreds of additional items. Tariffs would make those items costlier in the United States. And if Americans buy fewer of those goods, it would likely lead to fewer container ships steaming into U.S. ports.<\/p>\n The impact will be felt keenly at West Coast ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, relying on information from his port officials, said his port \u2014 the biggest in the United States \u2014 could suffer a 20 percent drop in volume if the additional $200 billion in tariffs are imposed against Chinese goods.<\/p>\n Jock O\u2019Connell, an economist in California who studies trade, said he doubts a downturn would be so severe \u2014 that would match the slump that accompanied the global recession of 2008 \u2014 \u201cbut we will see a definite impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some of the key findings from the AP analysis:<\/p>\n \u2014 U.S. tariffs will cover goods that are imported at more than 250 seaports, airports and ground terminals in 48 states.<\/p>\n \u2014 At 18 of 43 customs districts \u2014 including those representing ports around Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans and Houston \u2014 at least 10 percent of their total import value could be covered by new tariffs if all Trump\u2019s proposals take effect.<\/p>\n \u2014 Retaliatory duties by China and other countries cover $27 billion in U.S. exports.<\/p>\n Eugene Seroka, executive director of the Los Angeles port, worries that \u201cif tariffs make it too expensive to import, there will be an impact on jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Seroka and others don\u2019t expect layoffs on the docks. Union longshoremen \u2014 whose average pay last year on the West Coast was $163,000, according to the Pacific Maritime Association, which negotiates for the ports \u2014 often have contract provisions ensuring that they are paid even if there\u2019s no work. And there are fewer of them than there were a few decades ago because the advent of shipping containers has reduced the need for people on the docks.<\/p>\n Dwayne Boudreaux, an International Longshoremen\u2019s Association official in Louisiana, said, though, that his stevedores are handling about 10 percent less steel from Japan because of the new tariffs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to (get) worse,\u201d he said. But, he added, \u201cwho knows \u2014 that could change from the next press conference.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact might be greater on truck drivers and warehouse workers. Fewer will be needed, according to O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n Many drivers who deliver shipping containers from the dock to warehouses are independents contracted by trucking companies, and they don\u2019t get paid if there is nothing to haul. Some might leave the profession, said Weston LaBar, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association in Long Beach, California.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to retain drivers,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t have work for those drivers, we\u2019re worried they will leave for some other segment of the trucking business or go into another business, like construction.\u201d<\/p>\n Less shipping means less revenue for the ports \u2014 something that could limit their ability to pay for expansion and improvement projects, according to Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities. He said U.S. ports are in the midst of a planned $155 billion in infrastructure spending from 2016 through 2020.<\/p>\n The current trade war was foreshadowed in January by steep U.S. tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. It exploded with the U.S. tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Then came two rounds of duties targeting about $50 billion in imports from China \u2014 punishment against that country for pressuring U.S. companies to transfer technology and intellectual property to Chinese companies.<\/p>\n Along the way, China, the European Union, Turkey, Canada and Mexico imposed retaliatory duties on U.S. goods including farm products and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.<\/p>\n This week, the U.S. Trade Representative\u2019s office finished six days of hearings on a plan to hit another $200 billion in Chinese imports with 10 percent duties. Trump has said that if China continues to retaliate he could eventually add tariffs on $450 billion in Chinese goods, nearly 90 percent of that country\u2019s 2017 exports to the U.S.<\/p>\n Trade wars are usually temporary. President George W. Bush abandoned his steel tariffs after less than two years.<\/p>\n Milwaukee\u2019s port director worries, however, that damage from the current trade dispute could linger. Canada is increasing corn exports to Europe, and Brazil is trying to pick up the slack in soybean exports to China.<\/p>\n \u201cOthers are already picking up that business,\u201d Schlicht said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Confusion-as-China-ports-delay-U.S-300x188.jpg\")
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