国际英语资讯:Tariffs threaten nearly 1.5 mln U.S. jobs: Port of Los Angeles_时事

国际英语资讯:Tariffs threaten nearly 1.5 mln U.S. jobs: Port of Los Angeles

The effect is a threefold disadvantage for U.S. businesses and workers, the port said, indicating that import tariffs increase costs for U.S. consumers and producers.

This view was backed by Jonathan Gold, a spokesperson for Americans for Free Trade, who joined Tuesday's press conference with Seroka.

"Tariffs are a tax on U.S. companies and consumers. Recent data from Tariffs Hurt the Heartland show that Americans have paid an extra 38 billion U.S. dollars in tariffs because of the trade war and that number is only getting higher," said Gold, "it's clear the real casualties are American businesses, farmers, workers and consumers" rather than trading partners.

Moreover, tariffs make foreign products cheaper to manufacture, putting U.S. manufacturers at a cost disadvantage in the marketplace and retaliatory tariffs reduced the demand for U.S. exports, putting U.S. companies and jobs at risk.

Cargo volumes at the Port of Los Angeles for October reflect such trends, marking 12 consecutive months of declining U.S. exports, 25 percent fewer ship calls, and a 19.1-percent decrease in volume compared with October 2018.

"If cargo traffic out of the San Pedro Bay ports is declining because of tariffs, it means U.S. farmers and ranchers are hurting," Angela Hofmann, co-executive director of Farmers for Free Trade, said at the press conference.

She added that the toll had been especially heavy on the U.S. agricultural sector, with 26 percent to 51 percent of exports from all 50 states hit by tariffs, based on trade through the San Pedro Bay ports.