Seattle port workers brace for tariffs impact

Seattle port workers brace for impact of tariffs

While the global trade tension builds, it's longshore workers at the Port of Seattle who could pay the price, with talks that thousands of jobs may be on the line.

SEATTLE, Wash. - Tariffs on Chinese imports have surged to 145%, escalating an already-tense trade war and leaving local port leaders in Seattle and Tacoma grappling with the potential fallout. Amid the uncertainty, longshoremen at Pacific Northwest ports are bracing for the worst as whispers of job losses grow louder.

What they're saying:

"There’s been rumblings thousands of jobs are at stake but the actual number remains unknown according to Mark Elverston, president of the International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 19. "It changes every day. We don't know what the White House is going to do."

While a 90-day pause on tariffs remains in place for every country except China, port leaders warn that the temporary relief isn’t enough to give shipping carriers the stability they need.

"What we are facing really is kind of uncertainty and inconsistency," said John McCarthy, president of the Port of Tacoma. "And that's never good for business. It's never good for the economy."

At Terminal 46 in Seattle, the mood is tense. Toshiko Hasegawa, president of the Port of Seattle Commission and co-chair of the Northwest Seaport Alliance, said the economic stakes extend far beyond policy.

"This has an impact on more than just macroeconomics, trade and commerce, on our supply chain," Hasegawa said. "We're talking about the everyday impacts on people who depend on jobs to be able to feed their families."

Hasegawa noted that about 90% of the region's trade is with Asia, with China accounting for 40% of total trade volume in 2024, followed by Japan.

"So here locally, we can expect to see inflation," Hasegawa said.

Already, port officials are seeing signs of congestion and delays. Reciprocal tariffs imposed by China on American exports are beginning to ripple through the system.

"If they lose their market base, the demand over in China, that cargo gets stuck on our dock," Hasegawa said. "So it looks like us helping move that cargo, get it onto trucks and get it back to where it needs to go."

Hasegawa recently participated in a conversation with the White House to advocate for local ports as whispers that major ocean carriers may reroute shipments away from Seattle, Oakland and Portland in favor of larger ports to avoid fees. She also criticized federal policies such as the Harbor Maintenance Tax, which she said blames for cargo flowing through Canadian ports and then travel into the U.S. by rail.

"What they're doing is they're bypassing American ports, and we're losing the tax, and we're losing the jobs," Elverston said.

But it isn't just about cargo – it's about people.

The maritime industry supports about 25,000 jobs in the region, and according to port officials, around 40% of Washingtonians have jobs tied to trade. That economic engine is now under threat from both international trade policy and local zoning decisions.

One flashpoint is Seattle’s proposed "Makers District" in SODO. The Port of Seattle has filed an appeal against the city’s plan, arguing it would weaken the region’s industrial core and jeopardize long-term economic stability.

"The arc of the economy is long," Hasegawa said. "We have to make decisions now that are going to be in the best long-term interest of our communities, our consumers, our marketplace."

In a statement provided by the city, Communications Director Brad Harwood said: "The City's attorneys are reviewing Monday’s appeal and will respond through the appropriate legal channels. Because this is active litigation we have nothing additional to share at this time."

Elverston echoed the urgency of preserving the port’s role in the local economy.

"We have to be reliable," he said. "We cannot give up the asset the Port of Seattle is."

Port leaders said they’ve begun exploring alternative trade partnerships, including with Vietnam, in response to the 2018 trade war with China. But for now, all eyes remain on the city’s response to the Port of Seattle’s appeal — and on Washington, D.C., where tariff decisions continue to drive uncertainty on the docks.

The Source: Information in this story is from the International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 19, the Port of Seattle Commission, Port of Tacoma, City of Seattle and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.