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The trade frictions between Beijing and Washington may have an effect on one of the biggest and busiest ports in the US, which is increasingly dependent on trade with China.
The potential tariffs could cause real problems for workers at the Port of Los Angeles since half of the goods from China to the US have to pass through this location. The busy bilateral trade provides 190,000 jobs in and around LA, as well as supporting 2.8 million jobs in the US.
"China is the number one customer of the port and this has been true for a couple of decades. Since China joined the WTO, we've seen steady growth as much as 10 percent a year. And their growth has helped us to become the port we are today," said Jim Maclellan, director of the Trade Development at Port of Los Angeles.
Cargo containers sit stacked on a ship at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, US, March 28, 2018.
Many of those, working at the port, don't work for the ports. Daniel Uaina, for example, is a truck driver working for a Chinese-owned company at the Port of LA.
"It may be a battle through China and Trump. But we here on this soil, are the ones suffering throughout all of this debate," he complained.
In that case, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), a labor union in the US and Canada, also shared its concerns.
"It's the biggest rip off and exploitation case you've ever seen and so these drivers really don't have an opportunity to protect themselves in the way that many workers do," Barbara Maynard from IBT said.
She added that the decisions are made by those in power, those on the frontline have to watch and wait.
"Big people playing games with little people's lives, it's very dangerous," she stated.
(CGTN)
