Economists and businessowners are warning that President Donald Trump's steep new tariffs could not only lead to inflation, a recession, lower GDP, and a weakening of the U.S. dollar — they could also disrupt supply chains, causing empty shelves on retail shelves.
According to MSNBC's Ana Cabrera, the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California expects shipping volume to drop by as much as 35 percent in May.
During a Wednesday morning, April 30 broadcast, MSNBC's Steve Patterson — reporting live from the Port of Los Angeles — told Cabrera, "I've been in touch with port officials, with union leadership, with the larger small-business community in this area for the better part of a month. Everybody knew that this reduction in cargo was coming, but 35 percent was on the higher end of projections. And now, we're hearing about a 25 percent reduction in the amount of ships that will be coming for the month of May."
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Patterson continued, "These numbers are significant, and it will bleed all the way down the supply chain until it hits consumers — starting, of course, with the longshoremen who work the port. There's about 15,000 of them in this area."
Those longshoremen, Patterson told Cabrera, are "worried about a reduction of hours" as well as "layoffs" — while truckers are worried about having fewer goods to transport.
According to Patterson, "By the end of summer, if the tariff situation doesn't change, things could get really bad for the American consumer."
Gene Seroka, executive director of the U.S. Port of Los Angeles, told MSNBC, "I will say this is unique, in all my years in this industry. We're not hitting the panic button yet. But again, I'm focused on some of the smaller businesses. A trucker who's hauling four or five containers today may only be hauling two or three next week or two."
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Seroka continued, "Same thing with the warehouse workers. And our dock workers, who have been getting overtime and full workweeks, may have to scale that back as well."
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Watch the full video below or at this link.