Port of Los Angeles Sees Effects of Chinese-Origin Vessel Fee, Shifting Tariff Levels

“It depends on our definition of impact. As I've mentioned, it's been an up-and-down year when trade policy has come out and hard policy announced. We've seen importers slam on the brakes, mainly because the prices at those new tariff levels were just insurmountable,” executive director Gene Seroka said.

Hefty tariffs of 145% on Chinese-made goods in April sent imported cargo plummeting by 19%, even if that tariff level was temporary, according to Seroka. But in July, imported cargo volumes were up amid extended deadlines on China’s tariffs (see 2507140037).

“Mainly what I've seen on the import side of the business is that those folks have seen small windows of opportunity in betwixt and between all of these announcements, and when they have a chance to pick up some cargo and try to get it here to the U.S., the fastest way is to go through the Southern California ports. And that's mainly why you've seen our volume hold up,” Seroka said. He also noted that the export market “is really down” for agricultural products like soybeans and almonds.

Seroka mentioned that in response to the fees on Chinese-origin vessels that went into effect on Oct. 14 (see 2510140021), only one ship that was built in China called at the port this week.

However, 40 of the 83 shoreside cranes used at the port were manufactured in China. That type of equipment will be hit with 100% tariffs effective this week, Seroka said.

“On the cargo handling side between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, there are more than 5,000 pieces of equipment on the ground working today that will now face 150% new tariffs for any product that will be purchased after this date,” Seroka said. “These are not transactional buys in our industry, but because of these new taxes on imports, we will see folks that sit at the procurement desk having a very different look at purchasing in the future, and probably having a difficult time because there are very few selection opportunities from a slim manufacturing base.”

The port processed 883,020 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in September, down 7.5% year-over-year. Of that, the port handled just over 460,044 TEUs of loaded imports, also 7.6% lower year-over-year, while loaded exports were around 114,693 TEUs, on par with last September.

Seroka said he expects to see cargo volume soften over the last three months of 2025 as peak season is over. “Ongoing turbulent negotiations with our largest trading partner could intensify that decline, but it all remains to be seen,” he said. “There's been a lot of trade talk over the last few days, but so far, it hasn't translated into set policy just yet. For our part, we'll continue to maintain open lines of communication with our colleagues and partners across the global supply chain, and just as we always have, America's port will remain adaptable and ready for whatever comes our way.”

Seroka also noted, in responding to a question, that the port has been affected by the White House’s efforts to restrict infrastructure funding. While a clean ports grant from the EPA is still moving forward, $1.3 billion in funding to construct a hydrogen hub was pulled from the state of California last week, he said.

Appearing on the monthly media briefing as a guest was Richard DeNucci, senior international trade adviser for Venable. DeNucci also worked at CBP for 34 years, including in a number of leadership positions.

Speaking on the government shutdown, DiNucci commended CBP employees, who are not getting paid while working, as well as those with the partner government agencies. He noted that there might be a slow-down in response times at the ports, while at the headquarters level, officials may only be dealing with circumstances requiring immediate attention.

On trade matters, DiNucci said that while CBP has been able to pivot accordingly in responding to policy changes among the different White House administrations, what’s distinctive about this second Trump administration is the pace of the policy changes.

“This is an administration that prefers to operate very quickly in a manner that they regard as efficient,” DiNucci said. “So, that creates gaps in terms of the way things used to work and the advance notice that the trade gets in certain arenas.”

How companies decide to pivot depends, DiNucci continued: Some may decide to take a loss, while others may seek to rearrange their transaction structures to reduce tariff exposures, explore changes to the country of origin or adopt DDP measures. Either way, both responses are challenging given that companies can take 20 to 30 years to build their relationships with their suppliers as well as build their logistics operations.

The trade community and companies need to have “the ability to sort of adapt and change quickly, to be flexible,” DiNucci said. They also need to realize that Customs previously was considered primarily a revenue-generating agency, but the free trade agreements that have occurred over the last 35 years, as well as the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, have caused an evolution to primarily supporting reciprocal trade.

“If you really want to survive, you have to improvise, you have to adapt,” DiNucci said. This can be done by working with a licensed customs broker and those who can give legal advice, he continued.