This is how the recession begins. In Seattle, cargo shipments are down 60 percent. Los Angeles will be next. As recently as November, The Los Angeles Times reported that cargo traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reached record highs. But last week it quoted the port’s executive director, Gene Seroka, predicting that “in two weeks’ time, arrivals will drop by 35 percent.” The reason, Seroka said, was that “essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers have ceased, and cargo coming out of Southeast Asia locations is much softer than normal.”
The recession will make its way east from Seattle and Los Angeles as trucks and freight trains carry less cargo overland. The port of New York-New Jersey, which is less reliant on China, is doing pretty well for now, which is good because transportation, warehousing, and storage account for more than 17 percent of all jobs in the Garden State. But Lisa Yakomin, head of the Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, told the Bergen Record that “It’s a wait and see situation for the trucking community.”
Remember Harold Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association, who refused to endorse Kamala Harris and later gave Trump credit for averting an East Coast port strike when the credit actually belonged to the Biden administration? Trump is now working round the clock to put Daggett’s dockworkers out of a job. I wonder how long before they put Daggett out of a job. The same goes for Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who also refused to endorse Harris, and gave a cringeworthy speech at the Republican National Convention. The largest Teamsters employer, United Parcel Service, announced plans Tuesday to lay off 20,000 workers, citing tariffs as the reason.
Credit: Source link
