Probably no one is in more of a quandary when it comes to dealing with President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again trade tariffs than officials at the Port of Los Angeles.
In a June 13 media briefing, the port’s executive director, Gene Seroka, said the port processed 717,000 container units in May, down 5% from the same month last year. May imports fell 9% from last year, and exports were down 5%.
“That lands us at six straight months of declining exports, much of that at the expense of American farmers,” Seroka said.
Of the 195.2 million metric tons handled by the port in 2024, 633,219 metric tons were fruits and vegetables, including imports such as citrus, berries, bananas, melons and asparagus and exports such as citrus, grapes, carrots and onions.
Seroka said he planned to attend the 37th annual Agriculture Transportation Coalition Conference in Tacoma, Wash., in mid-June, where the agenda included strategizing on “actionable steps both on the ground and in Washington, D.C., to turn the tide and begin boosting U.S. exports.”
Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at The Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center, was also on hand for the briefing and said the China trade tariff has raised the average effective tariff rate in the U.S. by 12%.
As it continues to take, the tariff is expected to trigger a 1.5% increase in prices, which would lower the average family’s purchasing power by $2,500 per year, he said.
Seroka said two key milestone dates are coming: Aug. 11, which is the end of the 90-day pause period between the U.S. and China on their negotiations, and July 8 for the rest of the world except for Canada and Mexico.
The president said those dates could be extended, but that only “adds to the complexity that we’re all trying to deal with,” Seroka said.
He added those who work at the port and everyone around agreed that the U.S. needs long-term and comprehensive trade agreements.”
