Port of Los Angeles sees sharp drop in cargo ships, West Coast dockworkers sit idle

Shipping activity at major West Coast ports has plummeted, with the Port of Los Angeles averaging just five ships a day — down from a typical dozen — and job orders for dockworkers falling by nearly 50%, according to port officials.On a typical June day, the Port of Los Angeles would be buzzing with activity — about a dozen ships arriving from Asia, containers being unloaded, and cargo moving quickly across the country.But lately, things have been eerily quiet.“We’ve averaged about five ships a day,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told Bloomberg News.“Job orders for our dock workers are down nearly 50%.”That drop isn’t just a temporary blip.

It’s part of a larger slowdown linked to President Donald Trump’s trade war with China — a policy shift that’s been quietly wreaking havoc on West Coast port cities like Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma.While most of the attention around tariffs has focused on rising prices and stock market swings, the economic damage to these cities has gone under the radar.These ports depend heavily on trade with Asia, especially China.And now, because of increased tariffs and uncertainty in US-China relations, the flow of goods has slowed dramatically — with real consequences for jobs, businesses and local economies.Even a recent truce between the two countries has done little to reverse the trend.Data released Monday by the Chinese government showed that exports to the US tumbled 35% in May compared to the year before — the steepest drop since COVID lockdowns froze trade in early 2020.

That followed a 21% drop in April.While China’s shipments to places like Southeast Asia and Europe are on the rise, they haven’t been enough to balance out the loss in US-bound cargo.

All told, China’s overall exports rose just 4.8% last month, well below forecasts.The effects of the slowdown in Chinese exports are being felt across the Pacific.Long Beach — along with Los...