No matter what happens, it’s always spun as the worst possible news. From the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal print edition (p. A-1),
Tariff truce spurs 90-day rush to move products out of China.
The idea being,
Sky-high tariffs pummeled U.S. China trade, and now the cease-fie is causing a stapback. Firms across the U.S. are racing to rebook orders and find space on container ships to get product out of China.
The article is continued inside on page A-2 directly under the story headlined,
Trump’s Trade War Sends Chill Through Southern California Port Economy.
Which is it? Boom? Bust? Short-term boom with a predicted longer-term bust?
On the bust side, the Journal reports,
Two neighboring ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach together make up one huge complex that is the nation’s busiest container gateway, handling more than one-third of U.S. container imports. More than half are from China. Last year, an estimated $130 billion of goods from China flowed through the ports.
Last month, shipping companies canceled dozens of containership sailings from China to the U.S.
On the boom side,
In the week beginning May 12, when the trade truce with Bejing was announced, bookings for containers to the U.S. from China more than doubled.
Should we attribute this to policy uncertainty, or to shipping executive panicans? More boom,
“Bookings surged to a level not seen in more than a year.”
News of the renewed boom didn’t make it into the bust article until the final paragraph (print edition),
The strain could ease, port officials said, because of an expected bump in cargo because of the relaxation of China tariffs from 145% to 30%.
Never mind. The reporters need to talk to each other more often.
