EXPOSITION PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — As the Chamber of Commerce kicked off its 99th-annual World Trade Week Conference at USC, several of the global trade experts on hand are warning of major economic problems due to President Donald Trump’s wide-reaching tariffs.
“The way the tariffs are being laid across the world has created a shock wave that is wide and deep,” said Dr. Nick Vyas, the Academic Director of Global Supply Chain Management at USC. “This is not about four weeks, six weeks, or six months of shock. It depends on how deep we go. This could actually be felt for years to come.”
Trump for months had been insisting Americans would not pay the cost of the tariffs and that the exporting countries would pick up the tab. But, the president is now admitting U.S. prices may climb because of the tariffs, but is downplaying the severity of the cost increases.
“Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” Trump said Wednesday.
Global trade advisor Thomas Riebs of the consulting group Traksjon says President Trump is destroying decades-old relationships with trade partners and creating an era of uncertainty that is roiling financial markets and supply chains.
“Rule of law is what Europeans expect of the U.S., and the fact that things change so quickly, and apparently, on a whim, I think is very upsetting and disturbing to a lot of European companies,” Riebs told Eyewitness News.
Meanwhile, Southern California is caught right in the middle of the tariff crossfire. The executive director of the Port of Los Angeles said incoming cargo volume next week will be down a staggering 35%. That will affect income for everyone from dock workers, to truck drivers, to retail employees.
“I’m extremely concerned,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told Eyewitness News on Thursday. “Considering that our port receives 40% of the goods that go on throughout the country, it’s very significant… It can have an absolutely devastating impact on our local economy, so I am hoping the president will reconsider.”
Trade experts say that is a real possibility, pointing out that Trump has already flip-flopped several times with his tariff policies.
But, Riebs says that question also breeds that very unpopular word: “More uncertainty, certainly,” he said.
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