Shoppers can start to see store shelves thinning by summer due to imports shipped from China. Mama and Pop companies are at the highest risk of shortages, industry experts told Post.
After President Trump returned to the White House, US businesses began reducing or canceling orders as they strengthened the trade war with Beijing.
According to container tracking software provider Vizion, the volume of goods expected to arrive at the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach between May 4 and May 10 fell 43% compared to the same period last year.
The decline follows a 57% increase for the week of April 20-26, data as importers put freight on the forefront ahead of Trump’s sudden tariffs on Beijing.
The administration signaled 54% with one of the country’s largest trading partners before jacking to 145% on April 2nd.
“Small and medium-sized retailers will be difficult to ease tariffs…and they’ll have exhausted their inventory first,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy for the National Federation of Retailers.
China accounts for around 54% of all containerized imports from Asia, including electronics, toys, apparel, furniture and building materials. It usually takes two to three weeks to travel from China to the port on the West Coast.
“It may be weeks, maybe not weeks,” said Rita McGrath, a strategic management scholar and professor at Columbia Business School.
“I think I’ve also started seeing things lacking during the big summer holidays.”
Wes Allen, who owns Sunlight Sports in Cody, Wyoming, said uncertainty in Trump’s trade policy made it impossible to plan a new order in advance. Outdoor sports goods companies sell tents, sleeping bags, sports apparel and equipment, all made in China.
“What we import directly costs more than we thought, and our vendors are firing people so they can pay customs duties,” Allen said.
According to Anne Leek, president of the North American Association (IANA), an organisation representing the container industry, Trump said a suspension of mutual tariffs on all countries except China could suspend mutual tariffs in all countries except China.
But because importers don’t want to keep excess inventory, it’s a tricky balance act, and they worry about US consumer sentiment slipping.
“Think about it in your own economy,” McGrath told the Post. “If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t put the money… what the situation will do in the future.
Customs broker Bobby Scholl predicts the ship will arrive at US ports that carry fewer items within the next three to four weeks.
Many of these ships may be skipping Chinese ports as importers have stopped Chinese luggage or ordered due to Chinese steep tariffs.
According to CNBC, there were already 80 blank voyages from China reported by freight company HLS Group.
Larry Gross, president of Gross Transportation Consulting, warned about Gridlocks at the port as fewer Chinese ships arrive to take them away.
“We are now seeing the ship being dropped off next week, perhaps next week, when it was sent in full capacity a few weeks ago,” Gross said. “These things occupy valuable space at these ports.”
