By driving south of Los Angeles along the coast, you cannot miss the San Pedro port complex. Dozens of red cranes appear behind the highway.
The sound of the vortices of the industry while the containers are unloaded, oceanic coatings of obstacles to waiting trucks and freight trains that seem to never end.
The port of Long Beach combines with the port of Los Angeles To make the most frequented wearing of the Western hemisphere.
San Pedro’s port complex
Colorful metal containers contain everything and anything, from clothing and automotive parts to refrigerators and furniture. About $ 300 billion in freight passes here every year and 60% China.
But for the moment, it is much less busy than usual. Traffic is down a third, compared to that time last year.
In the closest part of the continent UNITED STATES at China, it is Donald TrumpNew price Policy in action, direct result of the frozen trade between the two countries.
“For the month of May, we expect us to go down around 30% of the place where we were in May 2024,” said Noel Hacegaba, the chief of the port of Long Beach, in Sky News.
“What results in is fewer ships and less containers. This means that fewer trucks will be necessary to transport these containers from the port terminal to warehouses. This means fewer jobs. “
Noel Hacegaba, chief of the port of Long Beach port
‘We barely survive’
Helen Andrade knows everything about it. She and her husband, Javier, are both truck drivers. Helen has only obtained its license in recent years, so when dry work, it is likely to be impacted first.
“I am awake at night to worry about it,” she says.
“We are barely surviving and we already see work slowing down. In my case, there are two income that will not enter. How are we going to survive? “
Helen adds: “I am afraid for the next two weeks, because in the next two weeks, I will see where it goes, that I saved enough money, which I know I don’t have.”
Truck driver Helen Andrade
In Long Beach, one in five employment is linked to the port. But what is happening in the port does not stay here.
The expeditions reach all parts of the country and already, a shortage of certain articles imported from China and the price increases set up.
A short trip by car is the city center of Toy District, a multicultural area made up of a dozen streets of pastel-colored buildings, which houses importers and wholesalers of toy, a large part of which is imported from China.
Line windows of colored balloons in the Los Angeles toys district
Learn more about prices:
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China moves to relieve pricing pain before American discussions
The Federal Reserve warns against the impact of Trump prices
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A woman in a toy warehouse reads a Chinese newspaper. It indicates a title on the 145%prices.
“I cannot afford, I cannot afford, I will have to increase prices,” she said, exasperated.
Empty
At the corner of the street is a party store, selling gift bags and packaging paper. There are empty shelves that would have been full.
“These empty spaces are the place where we have stopped importing from China because the prices are too high,” explains the owner, Jacob Mok.
Jacob Mok, owner of the party shop,
Empty shelves in Mr. Mok’s party shop
He said to Sky News, “I will continue to look at the negotiations of China and America. I hope that possible, they reach an agreement because it is very difficult for us. ”
Jacob is not alone. The impact is felt throughout the supply chain.
US Secretary of Commerce Scott Bessent will meet his Chinese counterpart in Switzerland this weekend.
The pressure increases on Mr. Trump’s team to conclude an agreement with China and do it quickly.