Longshore union blasts Trump tariffs, warns of massive job losses

Calling President Donald Trump’s trade policies “reckless” and “shortsighted,” the West Coast dockworkers union is warning that U.S. tariffs will lead to massive job losses and higher prices for working-class Americans.

“The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) unequivocally condemns the recent tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed,” the union said in a statement. “Tariffs are taxes. These and other reckless, shortsighted policies have begun to devastate American workers, harm critical sectors of the economy, and line the pockets of the ultra-wealthy at the expense of hardworking families. The tariffs have also sown distrust among our allies and inflamed geopolitical tensions. These tariffs are nothing more than a direct attack on the working class and should be opposed outright.”

West Coast ports are seeing a sharp decline in containerized imports from China, where reciprocal tariffs have all but stopped commerce between the former trading partners.

“Hundreds of thousands of jobs are dependent on or connected to global trade. Constricted trade between the world’s two largest economies could lead to devastating job losses for workers employed in the global supply chain,” the union said. It pointed to a recent move by Ocean Network Express further delaying resumption of its PS5 trans-Pacific West Coast service scheduled for May, and said “[i]ndirect effects of these tariffs, like rising fuel costs and increased costs of construction materials, have already led to layoffs as American businesses struggle to adapt.”