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Tariffs' ripple effect on NJ

Trump's actions could put damper on ports, truckers, warehouses

By: Daniel Munoz
and Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The global import tariffs that President Donald Trump had threatened - and then paused last week [04/09/2025] for 90 days - would affect every aspect of New Jersey's supply chain industry, from the shipping companies, ports and longshoreman to truckers and warehouses, experts say.
..... And New Jersey, an epicenter of major ports, airports railway and interstate highways, boasts major employment in these sectors. In 2020, transportation, warehousing and storage accounted for 1.4% of all jobs in New Jersey, said a report by the state Labor Department, making it the third-largest sector in the state by employment.
..... Last week, [04/09/2025] as Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on most of the United States' trading partners and then paused most of them, markets were rattled.
..... Before Trump's pause, both China and the European Union hit back with their own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.
..... And even with the pause, Trump made China an exception raising tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%.
..... As a result, some New Jersey importers are "pausing their shipments for a week or tow to see if things settle down," said Lisa Yakomin, who heads the Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, a trade group for the state's trucking sector.
..... "That could cause a temporary dip in freight volume coming through the port, but right now it's a wait-and-see situation for the trucking community," she told NorthJersey.com .
..... Tim Avanzato, the logistic manager at Lanca sales, a hillside firm that imports and exports food packaging, said his comp;any has been in a similar situation, with orders being put on hold in the short term.
..... Other importers tried to expedite their shipments after Trump's announcement last week, [04/09/2025] said Kyle Beaulieu, a senior director at Flexport, a logistic brokerage firm, "leading to a temporary surge in demand" that could not be met.
..... Earlier this month [04/2025] Marersk, the world's second-largest shipping container firm, said in a statement that many companies would "need the ability to speed up or slow down goods and potentially redirect flows to alternative markets to keep their goods moving efficiently."
..... "The tariff plan announced by the U.S. administration was significant, and in its current from, it clearly isn't good news for global economy, stability, and tread," the Maersk statement said.

Decline in bookings

..... Terminal operators, ocean carries and sevedores are "seeing a drop in overall bookings," said John Nardi, president of the Shipping Association of New York & New Jersey.
..... But some companies clearly tired to stockpile imports early in the year to avoid the looming tariffs.
..... Rick cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the ports had their third-busiest January ever this year [2025] and remarked at the agency's March [2025] board meeting that "the port saw its busiest start of the year [2025] since the pandemic cargo surge."
..... Cargo at the Port of New York and New Jersey was up around 10% in November through February of 2024 and 2025, compared with the same period the year before.
..... While the Port Authority declined to comment on what, if any, shift it expects to see as a result of the tariffs, the head of its counterpart in Los Angeles told Politico he expects to see a double-digit drop in cargo.
..... "It's my view that the second half of this year, [2025] beginning July 1 through the end of the year, [2025] we're going to state to see a drop in cargo," said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. "The drop, I think, is going to be at least 10% at the nation's largest port here."

Less work for longshoremen?

..... The Port of Los Angeles also experienced record cargo volume going into 2025, which Seroke largely attributed to "front-lading." That refers to when shippers purchase more goods in advance - a strategy used by some last year because of fears that the International Longshoreman's Association would strike in January, [2025] an event that didn't come to pass because a deal was reached.
..... An earlier strike during contact talks in October [2025] lasted several days.
..... Harold Daggett, president of the ILA praised Trump for his support and said trump was "key" to the strike-preventing deal, which was reached before Trump took office.
..... Now, if Seroka's prediction that cargo imports will drop off later this year [2025] comes true, ILA members could find themselves with less work.
.... Jim McNamara, spokespeople for the ILA, declined to comment for this story, Daggett did not respond to multiple emails for this story.

Warehouse leases slowing

..... Late last year, [2024] warehouse leasing in New Jersey slowed as firms warily eyed how tariffs would play out on the global market. Many tenants secured short-term leases late last year [2024] in anticipation of any potential economic changes under the Trump administration, said John Pbeid, senior research manager for New Jersey at Cushman & Wakefield ..... Other firms are simply holding off on new chimerical leases, said Dan Kennedy, CEO of NAIOP, the Commercial Real E State Development Associaton's New Jersey chapter.
..... In the medium and long terms, tariffs could drag dwon the quantiites of imports and exports passing through, which could in turn push down port activity and ancillary logistics and warehouse activity. Tim Evenas, research director of New Jersey future, a policy advocacy group, said in a January [2025] interview.
..... "People stop buying as much imported stuff, you can definitely see a drop-off in the need to unpack it" in the port, Evenas said. "that would cause a drop in demand" for warehouses. "If they experience a sudden drop in demand, that affects New Jersey."

Wait-and-see mode

..... "I just think everyone is waiting to see where this lands," said Nardi, of the Shipping Association of New York & New Jersey.
..... Avanzato, of Lanca Sales, said businesses are waiting to see how Trump's tariffs will pan out.
..... "Are there going to be additional deals?" he said. "If all the tariffs stick, without a doubt, import volume will drop."
..... Now that Trump has issued a 90-day pause on most tariffs, some companies may try to "beat the tariffs by importing what they can in that 90-day window,: said Paul Bingham, a transportation consultant at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
..... Still others are pushing ahead with their operations, not opting to cancel shipping bookings, said Nils Haupt, a spokesperson for international shipping giant Hapage-Lloyd.
..... That's not to say it's business as usual -many companies are having "crisis meetings and discussing what to do," he said.
..... How we transport is point four, five, six of the agenda," Haupt said.

Businesses stocked up

..... There could be a shortage of some products down the road, but given that some companies stockpiled products and raw materials in advance, there may not be an immediate impact.
..... "When existing U.S. inventories of those specific imported products are drawn down," then there could be product shortages, "but not yet," Bingham said. Automakers for example, have several weeks of inventory in the U.S.
..... Other firms, including Kearny-based Mac Products, which makes electrical distribution and transmission products, stockpiled raw materials for China in between Trump's November victory and his January 20 [2025] inauguration.

Impact of China tariffs

..... While issuing a pause on many tariffs, Trump did not hold back the 125% tariff on imports from China.
..... New Jersey exporters $2.2 billion of goods annually to China, according to the U.S.-China Business Council, while China sends $13.6 billion in imports back, according to the Chinese consulate general in New York.
..... China ships the largest volume of goods by far to the Port of New York and New Jersey. It sent more than 1 million TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units, of products in 2023, well ahead of India's 320,000 TEU is the generic unit of cargo capacity, basically the size of a standard 20-foot-long shipping container.
..... The U.S. depends on China for may appliances and electronics that would be affected by the higher tariffs - ranging form electric vehicles to cell phones and laptops, said Arash Azadegan, a supply chain management expert at Rutgers Business School in Newark.

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