Southern California may be known for celebrities and glitz, but the true action has long been about 40 miles away from Hollywood, in a place where high-visibility coveralls and hardhats dominate.
For the past 25 years, the San Pedro Bay port complex – comprised of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach – has been the celebrity of the shipping world and an economic driver of California’s massive economy. The busiest seaport in the western hemisphere and one of the busiest in the world, approximately 15,000 longshore workers usually pull shifts around the clock, moving billions of dollars’ worth of cargo in cars, agriculture, auto parts, toys, clothes and furniture.
This week, however, the port is shining a little less brightly. As a result of the Trump administration’s decision to subject imports to a minimum 10% tariff (and levies far higher for goods from 57 countries), roughly a third of the traffic at the port has ground to a halt, according to Eugene Seroka, the chief executive officer of the Port of Los Angeles.
With more than 70% of the port workforce living within a 10-mile radius of the complex, LA’s waterfront communities of San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach are expected to be the first hit by the slowdown, but they will certainly not be the last, said Gary Herrera, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) local 13.
“One in every five jobs in southern California is tied to the ports – warehouse workers, truck drivers, logistic teams and more,” said Herrera, who has been a longshore worker since 1998. Herrera says LA’s Inland Empire, including Riverside and San Bernardino, which serve as warehousing centers for retailers such as Walmart and Amazon, as well as communities such as Bakersfield and Barstow, which have freight rail lines, will also be severely affected.
What happens in the port doesn’t stay in the port, echoed long-time labor activist and former Los Angeles harbor commissioner Diane Middleton. “One way or the other, cargo that comes in here goes to all 435 US congressional districts. Everyone in the US will feel this.”
The port, which handles 40% of all containerized imports into the country, is widely seen as a bellwether for the entire US economy. For months leading up to the election and inauguration, the docks were abuzz. Large retailers especially were front-loading – stocking up on merchandise in fear of what might be to come. Now that the tariffs are here, experts say the front-loaded stock will only last six to eight weeks.
Trump, who meted out the harshest tariffs to China, Vietnam and Cambodia, has referred to his 2 April announcement as “liberation day”. To those immediately affected, however, chaos and anxiety are better ways to describe it.
Trump has made dizzying statements, sometimes even suggesting certain tariffs may not last, Middleton noted. “He’s saying, ‘I’m negotiating 200 deals. There’ll be a deal with China in no time,’” said Middleton. “And the Chinese are saying, ‘We’re not talking to anybody.’ So there are contradictions, and who do you believe?”
Vivian Malauulu, a night-shift longshore worker, believes what she sees. “When ships are docked on our berths, we’re busy – there’s manning, dispatch activity, job orders, and 24-hour operations across day, night, and what we call “hoot” shifts.” Now there are “fewer imports, and fewer vessels calling at our terminals”, said Malauulu, who is also a local 13 officer.
Workers who previously clocked full work-weeks have already been slashed to three or four shifts. She and co-workers, all accustomed to good-paying union jobs, are now tightening their purse strings – eliminating luxuries like family outings and entertainment. “There’s definitely concern on the docks,” said Malauulu.
The west coast-based ILWU has a long history of backing progressive ideas. ILWU vice-president Brandi Good, along with a handful of other labor union representatives, spoke briefly at Bernie Sanders’ recent “Standing Up to Oligarchy” rally in downtown Los Angeles.
But Malauulu said that not all individual members rebuffed Trump. Neither did the ILWU’s counterpart on the east coast – the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). ILA president Harold Daggett had a well publicized visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
“Some members, like many working-class Americans across the country, were drawn to Trump because he sounded like he was speaking directly to them,” said Malauulu. Messaging about “bringing jobs back”, being “tough on China” and protecting American industries felt like it aligned with labor values, she said. Malauulu says too many people did not take the time to really dig into Trump policies and the potential effects. Now they are experiencing the result.
Herrera hopes, however, that the focus among port workers can remain on strength and unity. Because of California’s location, the ports here get more traffic from Asia. But all US ports and longshore workers will be negatively impacted. They need to stick together, he says.
“We are the most resilient workforce in the world. During the Covid pandemic, we kept moving the world’s cargo because we couldn’t work remotely. Now, with this situation, we’re all just hoping that there’s some type of resolve because at the end of the day it’s about the American worker, the blue-collar worker, that’s being hurt – and the consumer and the communities.”
The situation on the waterfront, however, does not appear to be resolving any time soon. In mid-April, the Trump administration announced new rules that will also phase in port fees on many ships built in China. Jamieson Greer, the head of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which formulated the rules, said the fees are designed to “reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the US supply chain and send a demand signal for US-built ships”.
The USTR action says that in the first phase, the charge will be $50 per net ton per US voyage, increasing incrementally to $140 per net ton by 17 April, 2028. The fees, which could amount to millions, will be charged up to five times per year per vessel. The charges have been dialed back since they were first floated by the Trump administration and there may be additional carveouts, but Beijing has nonetheless vowed to retaliate.
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have tripled the number of projected blank sailings – or canceled ships. The ports are projecting 30 combined blank sailings for this month, up from 10 in April.
“The men and women of the ILWU are strong and resilient. We are accustomed to peaks and valleys so, for now, we’re just trying to remain as positive as we can,” said Herrera. “If and when the work comes back, we’ll be here.”
