➡ The business owners are adjusting their prices due to trading changes with China, while trying to keep it fair for customers. They’re also planning to open a second location. They emphasize the importance of supporting local businesses during these uncertain times. The tariffs are affecting various industries, including hair products and trucking.

The executive director at the Port of Los Angeles has warned that shipping volume from China will plummet this week. He joins me now to discuss Gene Soroka and Justin Wolfers this year, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Gene, tell us what you’ve seen so far, because I know you’ve already said that a number of major American retailers, the big guys, have stopped shipments from China altogether. Good evening, Steph. What we’re seeing is that about 20% of the normally scheduled vessel arrivals for the month of May have been cancelled. This week in particular, the cargo is extremely light, about 35% lower than the same time last year.

So for your average person who’s saying, cargo ships, how does that affect me? What is that going to mean when they go to their small store in their hometown or a big-box store next week or the week after? Well, from the last segment, you hit it on the nail on the head, Steph. We’ve got about 125,000 importing companies that call the Port of Los Angeles home every year. No one has more than a 5% share. So it’s the small to medium-sized folks that didn’t have the opportunity to stock up on inventory before this day of tariffs hit.

Now they’re in the middle of the crosshairs saying, either I buy at these exorbitant prices two and a half times more or what they were just last month, and I can’t pass on that cost to keep up with the big guys. So we’ll likely see about four to six more weeks of normal inventory levels than some spot shortages. You may not be able to find exactly what you want, where you want it. Justin, weigh in here because we’re four to six weeks away from seeing real impact. These small businesses, they can’t call the White House. They have no lobbying ability, and they certainly didn’t have the money to load up on inventory the way a big-box store could.

And we know from the big-box stores, they’re already predicting pain. Yeah, let me take Jean’s story and add a little bit more economics to it, which is we know that there’s less stuff coming in. That’s what Jean just told us. We’re not making more stuff, so therefore there’s going to be less supply. Look, there’s three ways this can resolve. I think a lot of people have been very quick to jump to the, everything’s going to be sold out, there’ll be nothing left on the shelves story. That’s one possibility, but it’s not the only one. Another possibility, of course, is the reason that they’re not ordering this stuff is they realize they’re going to have to jack up their prices, and they’ll jack them up so high that not many people are going to want to buy stuff.

So it could be where we’ve got a big adverse price shock coming, and you’re going to get some sticker shock coming right at you. The third possibility, of course, is that the president may well plunge the economy into recession. If we’re at a point where we’ve got too much demand and not enough supply, well, the recession will wipe out all the demand, and maybe there will be enough stuff on the shelves, but it’ll be there because mums and dads can’t afford to buy it. Jean, from your perspective, is there anything that could turn this around in the short term? Absent getting together with trading nations and crafting these framework deals that the administration is talking about, no, I don’t see any change.

On the export side, the American farmer is getting hammered here in California’s Central Valley, whether it’s almonds, walnut handlers, they’re not selling. And just in the month of March, Steph, Brazil sold more soybeans to China than ever in their history, lower trade barriers and favorable exchange rates. So what this is basically saying is that the ports, especially over in Los Angeles, and somebody, I think, is Night Jade. Night Jade says, hey, do you think these companies would have already prepared for this? I mean, we knew these ships would be lighter. Yes, I think that these companies probably already prepared for it.

They anticipated. I think that the companies is actually excited because they get to lower the inventory a lot of times because what you don’t know, especially a lot of these big box stores, that’s the reason why they have all of these crazy sales is because they can’t get rid of things now. One thing that I did see and one thing that I know is that sales are up at all retailers across the board, even as far as iPhone, Apple, people are accelerating their purchases. And it kind of put a jolt into the industry and that is encouraging people to go and buy the things that they were going to put off buying.

A lot of people are buying it now because they’re thinking that there’s going to be higher prices attached to it. The question that I have for a lot of people is, what is it that you guys think that you’re missing out on that you need from China? So we’ve his life. What is it that you guys think that you need that you’re missing from China? You guys are unbelievable. There are expected to cripple some small businesses, including those in the beauty industry. But some owners are doing to protect their bottom line. Business owners say impacts of Trump administration imposed tariffs are trickling down.

Today, I talked with two women who want a beauty supply store in Mableton. They say they’re trying their best to do good business, but also not make it unbearable for their customers. Your total is 1059 today for Dana and Charis. All right. See you later. It’s a family environment inside. So at beauty supply in Mableton, we just pray that God keeps continuing to cover us. But now they are asking for divine protection as they say Trump imposed tariffs against China. It’s impacting prices. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So you’re asking for divine protection. So you’re seeking God because you want to make sure that you can sell more hair.

Oh, man. God forbid women learn how to do they own here. God forbid women learn how to get a curl. Why not? You ain’t even got to do the curl one now. Don’t they got like the air ones or the ones from Dyson, the Dyson ones that don’t even burn your hair out and stuff like that? Because like we used to hear y’all. I remember when we when I used to go to church and you would hug up on a woman and you can actually tell that she curled her hair because her hair would smell like curl on.

I remember, I remember when you would give a hug to a church lady and give her that hug. Oh, yeah, she just curled her hair this morning. She got that curl one hair smell. God forbid that y’all actually learn how to do your own hair and we don’t get red weave wigs all day long. They got the air air air ones now, don’t they? Yeah, hair be smelling burnt. I remember that shout out to all the church ladies. Growing up in the Pentecostal church was something interesting. It was an interesting interaction. This point is no longer possible.

They are here in full effect. The prices have gone up extremely high. Trump high tariffs on China to a staggering 145%. It’s making it difficult for some Chinese business. And then the women nowadays, because they don’t want to put the curl one in their head and they haven’t learned how to do it the other way. Because I remember women back in the back of the day, they used to roll their hair up in the things, in the little rollers. And then when they took the rollers out, their hair would just… Women actually put a lot more effort into themselves.

They try to take too many shortcuts now. So now, then they started doing the curl one hair and then they would say, I don’t want to burn my hair out or my edges. The edge thief came and took my edges out. And so then they started getting pieces in their head. And then when they get them pieces in their head, they get the horses in their hair. Or they get a wig. They get a whole wig on their head. Put the hair hat on. And then they get that wig. And then when they get the wig on, you say, Girl, why are you wearing that? You don’t need that.

Your hair is beautiful. It protects my real hair. Oh, what the fuck? We need your real… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. God forgive me. Forgive me, Lord. Why do we need your real hair if we’ll never see it? What are you protecting if I’ve never seen it before? Man, listen, bro. It was women for, I would say, maybe six years. I had never seen their real hair before. And then I had popped up over my homegirl’s house. And I guess she was the one that was doing the other girl’s hair. I said, Who is that handsome man in there? Who is that handsome man in there? They said, That’s Keisha.

That ain’t Keisha. That’s Keisha’s brother. That’s Keisha. That got to be Keisha’s brother. Then they would have them cornrows. They had them little mini micro cornrows going up in their head. And they would get the cornrows. And then they put that little sticker on the front of their head. And they put the weave on it. Just for me. And they be flowing. Just for me. They put them stickers on their head. They do that cut on that thing. They cut that stocking cap. They put some glue on the front of the sides. Put the sticker on it.

I said, That’s the whole process. Looking like John Moran. This is to continue trading with the United States. I imagine that some of us may not have the budget to continue. Most of the stuff now that we are paying for, the price that we’re in charge is the price that we were charging the customers. So of course we can’t stay in business if we keep the prices the same. So now we’re working on making sure that the margins are still there. But making sure that we are not making it unbearable for our customers. The business owners say they are trying to be as transparent as possible with their customers.

So they don’t have sticker shock. I’m told hair is the first item that the cost. God forbid that hair that comes from China being sold to your people. No, we gotta get the hair. We need the hair from China. Maybe the tariffs ain’t so bad after all. When I bought. All right, thank you, Tiffany. And as I mentioned, we appreciate your ongoing support. As there seems to be no end in sight, they say now is the time to support your local businesses. Now it’s just a waiting game just to see, okay, which vendor is going up next.

And we only go up when they go up. We’re not going up across the board because it’s just not fair to the customers. So this also comes at a time where the business owners, they say they plan to open a second location within the city, a memorial drive. So anyways, tariffs are preventing China. And also it’s so funny because I was looking at a video where they were basically saying that the trucking industry is also going to be impacted because not as many lows. So you’re definitely going to have to learn how to read and write English.

But neither here nor there. [tr:trw].

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