Largest US port expects slump in shipments next week amid tariff impact

LOS ANGELES -- The Port of Los Angeles, the largest and busiest port in the United States, is expecting a 35 percent slump in shipments from Asia next week, the port's executive director told media on Tuesday.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he expects incoming cargo volume to slide by more than a third next week compared with the same period in 2024 as the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs leads companies to cut their import orders.

"According to our own port optimizer, which measures the loadings in Asia, we'll be down just a little bit over 35 percent next week compared to last year. And it's a precipitous drop in volume with a number of major American retailers stopping all shipments from China based on the tariffs," Seroka said in the interview.

"Realistically speaking, 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," Seroka added.

Shipments from China make up about 45 percent of the business for the Port of Los Angeles, according to the report.

Along with the lower volume of goods, Seroka also stated in the CNBC interview that he expects roughly a quarter of the usual number of arriving ships to the port to be canceled in May.

Seroka pointed out that he thinks US retailers have about five to seven weeks before the impact of the curtailed shipments begins to bite, partly because companies stocked up ahead of Trump's tariff announcements.

"I don't see a complete emptiness on store shelves or online when we're buying. 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. And for that one blue shirt that's still left, you'll see a price hike," he noted in the interview.

The Port of Los Angeles handled about 17 percent of all containerized international trade moving through US seaports. The adjacent Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in Southern California constitute the largest port complex in the country. About 31 percent of everything the US imported or exported in containers over the water came through the San Pedro Bay twin ports.