Latest news with #SouthernCaliforniaLeadershipCouncil
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's tariffs threaten Southern California's $300-billion trade industry, report says
President Trump's tariffs, along with growing land-use and environmental regulations, could devastate Southern California's nearly $300-billion trade and logistics industry in the coming years, according to a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. report released Tuesday. The report, commissioned last year by the public policy group Southern California Leadership Council, comes as economists and business owners alike raise alarm about the toll an escalating trade war could take on the U.S. economy. Particularly in Southern California, home to the nation's two largest ports, goods exchange with China — subject to the steepest of Trump's tariff hikes — is a boon to local industry. Jeopardizing that long-term trade relationship could have severe consequences, former California governor and SCLC co-Chair Gray Davis said Tuesday in a news conference. "This is like having a winning sports team and deciding to trade all your players," Davis said. Read more: L.A. was forged by global commerce. Can the metropolis we know survive the Trump trade wars? Southern California's trade and logistics industry in 2022 contributed nearly $300 billion in direct economic output and generated an estimated $93.3 billion in tax revenue, according to the development corporation's report. The sector also supported nearly 2 million jobs, directly employing more than 900,000 workers with an average salary of more than $90,000, which was 26% higher than the average annual wage reported across Southern California. As for trade volume, the San Pedro Bay ports in 2022 handled 19 million 20-foot container equivalent units (nearly 35% of all U.S. waterborne containerized trade) with total cargo value surpassing $469 billion — making it the busiest container complex in the country and the ninth-largest worldwide, the report said. An escalating trade war with China joins a growing list of threats to Southern California's competitive edge in the trade industry. 'China represents Southern California's largest trading partner, with about $130 billion of Chinese imports flowing through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2024," the report said. "A 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods — coupled with a retaliatory 125 percent Chinese tariff on U.S. goods — can be expected to dramatically curtail the region's trade with China.' Read more: Strollers and other baby products will get more expensive — and harder to find — with tariffs The report added that the Port of Los Angeles already expects cargo volumes to drop by at least 10% as early as May. Loads aren't expected to recover again for the rest of the year. "This translates into less work across the region's supply chains, affecting port operators, haulers, wholesalers and other workers," the report said. "It also leaves thousands of Southern California importers facing inputs that potentially are two-and-a-half times more expensive, and these cost increases would get passed down to consumers across the region." Economic uncertainty surrounding the tariffs could threaten foreign investment in the region, the report said, leaving foreign-owned enterprises — which currently employ nearly 67,000 workers and generate $5.8 billion in wages in the Southern California region — to take their business elsewhere. Davis said that while he supports some of the underlying goals of the tariffs, including bringing manufacturing to the U.S., he doesn't believe Trump's strategy of "hammering people over the head" will be effective with business leaders. Instead, Davis said, officials should implement financial incentives such as those established by the 2022 CHIPS Act, which provided funding for chip manufacturing facilities and offered tax credits for investments in chip production. The LAEDC report recommended similar incentive programs for pushing the industry toward clean energy solutions. Read more: He's training the world's next microchip leaders. Here's why he worries While the LAEDC did not provide any projections Tuesday for financial losses as a result of the tariffs, Chief Executive Stephen Cheung said the 2018 U.S.-China trade war might provide clues. At that time, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on goods including wine. Immediately afterwards, the amount of U.S. wine exported to China dropped 25%, Cheung said. "If you use the same logic model, you can see how it's going to hit us pretty significantly," he said. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's tariffs threaten Southern California's $300-billion trade industry, report says
President Trump's tariffs, along with growing land-use and environmental regulations, could devastate Southern California's nearly $300-billion trade and logistics industry in the coming years, according to a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. report released Tuesday. The report, commissioned last year by the public policy group Southern California Leadership Council, comes as economists and business owners alike raise alarm about the toll an escalating trade war could take on the U.S. economy. Particularly in Southern California, home to the nation's two largest ports, goods exchange with China — subject to the steepest of Trump's tariff hikes — is a boon to local industry. Jeopardizing that long-term trade relationship could have severe consequences, former California governor and SCLC co-Chair Gray Davis said Tuesday in a news conference. "This is like having a winning sports team and deciding to trade all your players," Davis said. Read more: L.A. was forged by global commerce. Can the metropolis we know survive the Trump trade wars? Southern California's trade and logistics industry in 2022 contributed nearly $300 billion in direct economic output and generated an estimated $93.3 billion in tax revenue, according to the development corporation's report. The sector also supported nearly 2 million jobs, directly employing more than 900,000 workers with an average salary of more than $90,000, which was 26% higher than the average annual wage reported across Southern California. As for trade volume, the San Pedro Bay ports in 2022 handled 19 million 20-foot container equivalent units (nearly 35% of all U.S. waterborne containerized trade) with total cargo value surpassing $469 billion — making it the busiest container complex in the country and the ninth-largest worldwide, the report said. An escalating trade war with China joins a growing list of threats to Southern California's competitive edge in the trade industry. 'China represents Southern California's largest trading partner, with about $130 billion of Chinese imports flowing through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2024," the report said. "A 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods — coupled with a retaliatory 125 percent Chinese tariff on U.S. goods — can be expected to dramatically curtail the region's trade with China.' Read more: Strollers and other baby products will get more expensive — and harder to find — with tariffs The report added that the Port of Los Angeles already expects cargo volumes to drop by at least 10% as early as May. Loads aren't expected to recover again for the rest of the year. "This translates into less work across the region's supply chains, affecting port operators, haulers, wholesalers and other workers," the report said. "It also leaves thousands of Southern California importers facing inputs that potentially are two-and-a-half times more expensive, and these cost increases would get passed down to consumers across the region." Economic uncertainty surrounding the tariffs could threaten foreign investment in the region, the report said, leaving foreign-owned enterprises — which currently employ nearly 67,000 workers and generate $5.8 billion in wages in the Southern California region — to take their business elsewhere. Davis said that while he supports some of the underlying goals of the tariffs, including bringing manufacturing to the U.S., he doesn't believe Trump's strategy of "hammering people over the head" will be effective with business leaders. Instead, Davis said, officials should implement financial incentives such as those established by the 2022 CHIPS Act, which provided funding for chip manufacturing facilities and offered tax credits for investments in chip production. The LAEDC report recommended similar incentive programs for pushing the industry toward clean energy solutions. Read more: He's training the world's next microchip leaders. Here's why he worries While the LAEDC did not provide any projections Tuesday for financial losses as a result of the tariffs, Chief Executive Stephen Cheung said the 2018 U.S.-China trade war might provide clues. At that time, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on goods including wine. Immediately afterwards, the amount of U.S. wine exported to China dropped 25%, Cheung said. "If you use the same logic model, you can see how it's going to hit us pretty significantly," he said. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Trump's tariffs threaten Southern California's $300-billion trade industry, report says
President Trump's tariffs, along with growing land-use and environmental regulations, could devastate Southern California's nearly $300-billion trade and logistics industry in the coming years, according to a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. report released Tuesday. The report, commissioned last year by the public policy group Southern California Leadership Council, comes as economists and business owners alike raise alarm about the toll an escalating trade war could take on the U.S. economy. Particularly in Southern California, home to the nation's two largest ports, goods exchange with China — subject to the steepest of Trump's tariff hikes — is a boon to local industry. Jeopardizing that long-term trade relationship could have severe consequences, former California governor and SCLC co-Chair Gray Davis said Tuesday in a news conference. 'This is like having a winning sports team and deciding to trade all your players,' Davis said. Southern California's trade and logistics industry in 2022 contributed nearly $300 billion in direct economic output and generated an estimated $93.3 billion in tax revenue, according to the development corporation's report. The sector also supported nearly 2 million jobs, directly employing more than 900,000 workers with an average salary of more than $90,000, which was 26% higher than the average annual wage reported across Southern California. As for trade volume, the San Pedro Bay ports in 2022 handled 19 million 20-foot container equivalent units (nearly 35% of all U.S. waterborne containerized trade) with total cargo value surpassing $469 billion — making it the busiest container complex in the country and the ninth-largest worldwide, the report said. An escalating trade war with China joins a growing list of threats to Southern California's competitive edge in the trade industry. 'China represents Southern California's largest trading partner, with about $130 billion of Chinese imports flowing through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2024,' the report said. 'A 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods — coupled with a retaliatory 125 percent Chinese tariff on U.S. goods — can be expected to dramatically curtail the region's trade with China.' The report added that the Port of Los Angeles already expects cargo volumes to drop by at least 10% as early as May. Loads aren't expected to recover again for the rest of the year. 'This translates into less work across the region's supply chains, affecting port operators, haulers, wholesalers and other workers,' the report said. 'It also leaves thousands of Southern California importers facing inputs that potentially are two-and-a-half times more expensive, and these cost increases would get passed down to consumers across the region.' Economic uncertainty surrounding the tariffs could threaten foreign investment in the region, the report said, leaving foreign-owned enterprises — which currently employ nearly 67,000 workers and generate $5.8 billion in wages in the Southern California region — to take their business elsewhere. Davis said that while he supports some of the underlying goals of the tariffs, including bringing manufacturing to the U.S., he doesn't believe Trump's strategy of 'hammering people over the head' will be effective with business leaders. Instead, Davis said, officials should implement financial incentives such as those established by the 2022 CHIPS Act, which provided funding for chip manufacturing facilities and offered tax credits for investments in chip production. The LAEDC report recommended similar incentive programs for pushing the industry toward clean energy solutions. While the LAEDC did not provide any projections Tuesday for financial losses as a result of the tariffs, Chief Executive Stephen Cheung said the 2018 U.S.-China trade war might provide clues. At that time, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on goods including wine. Immediately afterwards, the amount of U.S. wine exported to China dropped 25%, Cheung said. 'If you use the same logic model, you can see how it's going to hit us pretty significantly,' he said.
Bloomberg
22-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump China Tariffs to Hit California Hub Serving Amazon, FedEx
President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports threaten to disrupt Southern California's trade and logistics economy, a sector that moves a third of the nation's container cargo and supports nearly 2 million jobs, according to a new analysis. Trump's 145% tariff on Chinese imports is expected to dramatically reduce volumes through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's busiest container gateway, according to a report by the Southern California Leadership Council and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. China's 125% retaliatory duties on US goods are likely to drag down outbound traffic.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
These Salt Lake City neighborhoods are most at risk for wildfires
Karl Lieb kept hearing the same question not long after a series of wildfires broke out around the Los Angeles area earlier this year. Combined, the fires only burned about 38,000 acres, a little larger than Utah's largest fire last year. However, given their location, the January fires were much more destructive than anything Utah has ever experienced. Twenty-nine people died and over 15,000 structures were destroyed, resulting in at least $28 billion in insured losses, according to Southern California Leadership Council estimates. Many estimate economic losses to be much higher as the city continues to rebuild. It left many watching from afar wondering: Could something like that ever happen here? "We've had a lot of questions ... over the last four months, honestly just asking us about the risk," said Lieb, Salt Lake City's fire chief. "Under the wrong circumstances, we could lose some structures in Salt Lake, but we are prepared for this and we do train for this." The wildfires highlight a real risk across many Western cities. They were eerily similar to a blaze near Boulder, Colorado, at the start of 2022, and another that destroyed Paradise, California, in 2018. Recent storms have helped lift most of Salt Lake County out of moderate drought for the first time in months, but it's not uncommon for it — like the rest of the state — to slip in and out of drought. And as this year's snowpack begins to melt, Salt Lake City is preparing for what could be an active fire season if the wrong conditions emerge over the next few months. Salt Lake City and Los Angeles do share many topographical similarities, including a flat basin, canyons and elevated spaces. When it comes to Utah's capital city, the Salt Lake City Fire Department lists the Salt Lake City Watershed/City Creek Canyon, along with the nearby North Cove Estates and East Capitol Boulevard areas, among its most vulnerable areas. Those locations aren't far from where last year's Sandhurst Fire began, leading to dozens of homes being temporarily evacuated as flames traveled across Hell Canyon. Many homes by the Upper Avenues and East Bench are also considered vulnerable. Homes above canyons are typically at the highest risk because fires like to travel up terrain, said Lieb, as he presented wildfire risk review findings to the Salt Lake City Council last week. "They superheat the fuel above them and it just draws the fire up, so all the homes (by) East Capitol and Northmont Way, on the other side of City Creek — those are probably the highest-risk areas," he said. "Those are the neighborhoods that we emphasize." However, elevated risk can also be found in other parts of the city. The department points out that there are many native and nonnative grass and brush species prone to wildfires when they dry out in the summer, especially near the Jordan River and other parts of the west side. Both Salt Lake City and Los Angeles can experience strong winds that fan flames, but Utah's winds are typically nothing like California's Santa Ana winds. The latter can last for days, which creates difficult firefighting conditions. There are also seasonal differences between the two, as well as road differences. "By the time people decided to get out, there was no room on those roads to get out," Lieb said of the recent California fires. "We have the benefit here to have multiple points of egress in most of our risk areas, and multiple points of access — and that's a big difference." With Utah's typical fire season about to get underway, he said the department has adopted some changes with the hope of preventing equally devastating wildfires. It created a new wildland-urban interface coordinator position to help train staff on the best wildland firefighting tactics while keeping its department staffed. Firefighters have also launched educational programs, which include going door-to-door in high-risk areas. This includes ensuring that people are prepared to evacuate quickly and orderly, on top of maintaining defensible spaces before any fires. City officials had previously voiced their concerns about what could happen locally after the California fires broke out in January. Fire risks have become a "365-day threat," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said earlier this year. Recent disasters also sparked some changes in Utah code this year. That includes HB48, which requires counties and cities to "adopt the wildland urban interface building code standards," among other things, to protect future homes. SB30 also puts Utah on track to join the Great Plains Interstate Fire Compact to help share firefighting resources with a growing number of states. 'I think what we're seeing, and what our firefighters are on the frontlines experiencing there is reshaping the way that we calculate our readiness for different disasters,' Mendenhall said.
