L.A. Residents Gear Up for Potential Tariff Effects
As President Donald Trump's trade war with China continues, buyers across Southern California are heading to stores and stocking up on household items.Many fear tariffs will cause prices to continue to increase and imports to slow down, which could have negative effects on the supply of essential items. Some say the increase in stocking up on items is reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic's 'panic buying.' Instead, shoppers can't get the same amount of items due to high costs of products such as food and clothing.'Ever since Covid, it's [been] a trauma response that I was stocking up. I felt like I needed it and I got it,' said Brenda Orozco to NBC4 Los Angeles. Unlike 2020, due to the higher cost of items, some consumers don't have the extra money to spend on products today. 'Now, I don't have that option to stock up because I don't have the funds for it,' said Orozco.
According to the Port of Los Angeles, the shipping volume coming to the U.S. from China is expected to drop 35% next week.'According to our own port optimizer, which measures the loadings in Asia, we'll be down just a little bit over 35% next week compared to last year,' said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, to CNBC. Shipments from China make up roughly 45% of the business for the Port of Los Angeles.'Until some accord or framework can be reached with China, the volume coming out of there — save a couple of different commodities — will be very light at best,' said Seroka.Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. This is not an isolated incident, however, hours after being sworn in, the President announced he would implement 25% tariffs on items from Canada and Mexico beginning Feb. 1.
He then imposed 25% tariffs on Colombia — and raised them to 50% in one week — after their government turned back planes carrying U.S. deportees.Tariffs on Chinese imports went into effect starting at 10% on Feb. 4, with an additional 10% going into effect on March 4 'as scheduled.'China then began imposing tariffs on farm products from the U.S., including an additional 15% on products such as corn and 10% on soybeans and fruit. This later rose to 34% on imports beginning April 4.Four days later, Chinese goods were subject to a 104% tariff. China responded with an additional 50% tariff on U.S. goods. Despite backing down on his reciprocal tariffs, China was not included and on April 9, Trump raised tariffs on its exports to 125% with the White House clarifying that this was in addition to a 20% tariff Trump had already imposed on China.While tariffs continue to fluctuate, some experts believe retailers will see effects in five to seven weeks.'I don't see a complete emptiness on store shelves or online when we're buying,' said Seroka. 'But if you're out looking for a blue shirt, you might find 11 purple ones and one blue in a size that's not yours. So we'll start seeing less choice on those shelves simply because we're not getting the variety of goods coming in here based on the additional costs in place.'
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