Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined with other local officials on Wednesday, June 4, to call for an end to the uncertainty being caused by the ongoing tariffs that, they said, are causing cargo to decline at the L.A. port and high prices in the region.

“If there was any theme that went through our roundtable,” Bass said standing on the deck of the Battleship Iowa in San Pedro, “that word was uncertainty.”

Bass’ remarks came after a closed-door roundtable that included business, labor and port leaders, who then spoke briefly with media afterward.

Tariffs, Bass said, have brought “uncertainty to our economy.”

Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker, who represents the port and Harbor Area on the City Council, participated in the discussion. The on-again, off-again tariffs situation has brought “chaos” to the economy, McOsker said.

“This is a self-inflicted wound; this is an unforced error,” he said. “This is a mistake for absolutely no reason.

“This is hurtful to people and somebody has to get a backbone and stand up — the courts, we need a legislature, maybe regular good people need to stand up and say this is wrong,” McOsker added. “Pick a number that makes sense and stick with it, quit jumping around; think of the people you represent.”

Also participating was Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, who motioned to the port activity behind him.

“Today you’re seeing what’s been noticeable to us over the last several weeks,” Seroka said. “In the last seven days, we’ve averaged five ships in port, where normally that should be about 10 to 12 this time of year.”

Normally, Seroka said, shipments would be coming in now preparing for the upcoming holiday seasons.

“As goes the port of L.A., so goes the American economy,” he said, adding that families he’s speaking to now are saying they are “tightening their belts.”

Prices, Seroka said, will be higher in the months to come.

U.S. exports also are being hurt, Seroka said, with other countries getting deals for certain products, such as soybeans, instead of the U.S. — and those contracts won’t quickly return to America.

“One thing we talked about,” Bass said about the roundtable, “is the need for all of us to communicate how this impacts (businesses) in their pocketbooks.

“Sometmes these issues seem kind of far away,” Bass added. “But the bottom line is it’s a tax on individuals and their families.”

The tariffs have also caused challenges for businesses. Elise Swanson, the president and CEO of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, said it’s become especially difficult to know how to provide guidance to new businesses trying to open up in a climate that is so uncertain.

Following the roundtable, Bass made a stop at nearby AltaSea, a marine science research campus along the waterfront, where she learned from scientists about the impacts of climate change and the recent L.A. fires, and research being conducted on runoff issues, before touring the facility with groups of school children.