China exports to U.S. plunge as tariffs hit, leading some experts to warn of product shortages

Source: CBS News

Updated on: April 29, 2025 / 9:07 AM EDT


Shipments of goods from China to the U.S. are dropping sharply with the Trump administration's steep tariffs in place, leading major U.S. retailers to warn about impending supply shortages. The trade war between China and the U.S. has escalated over the past few weeks, with each nation hiking its import duties multiple times in a tit-for-tat. While Trump has given other countries a 90-day pause on the tariffs, as their leaders pledged to negotiate with the U.S., China has remained the exception.

U.S. import duties on Chinese products now stand as high as 145%. China, meanwhile, has hit back with 125% tariffs on U.S. products. At the Port of Los Angeles, which, along with the Port of Long Beach, receives roughly 40% of all imports from Asia, shipments last week were down 10% compared with the same period one year earlier. That number is expected to keep falling.

"We are now beginning to see the flow of cargo to the Port of Los Angeles slow," Port of Los Angeles executive director Eugene Seroka said at a Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting on April 24. "It's my prediction that in two weeks time, arrivals will drop by 35%," he added.

U.S. retailers had rushed to import goods into the country ahead of President Trump's sweeping tariffs going into effect, leading to a spike in imports since last summer. Now, with the 145% tariffs making goods from China roughly two-and-a-half times more expensive than they were last year, "essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers have ceased," Seroka said.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-exports-to-us-drop-sharply/