Imports Through Long Beach and Port of L.A. in a Slump
Not long ago the biggest export ex California was “air”; yes, the Californian air inside empty containers! Already for 2008, the number of containers coming into these ports from Asia is down over 10% and the silly season of September/October with the Christmas stocks hasn’t yet arrived. Consumer spending on foreign-made junk is down and the real nail in the coffin was China’s decision to just about shut down the country for the Olympics. Exports are up 25% and it is not all scrap metal and used newspapers. We are shipping increasing amounts of agricultural products, machinery and manufactured goods out of the United States.
By the time that Mexican port south of Ensenada opens up in about five years time, the enlarged Panama Canal will allow Asian-made goods to move directly to the Gulf and East Coast ports and I suspect America will be importing less and less from Asia. European freight will be shipped directly to California, offsetting the loss of Asian trade. This huge investment to bi-pass American ports and take jobs away from Americans could well prove to be a colossal white elephant and create massive losses for the greedy investors, most of whom were Americans.
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