By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Just over 30 percent of all cargo arriving in the seaports in New Jersey and New York come from China, the region’s largest trading partner.

Now, with the latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports sparked by President Trump’s trade war with Beijing, there are growing fears of what impact the unilateral moves by the administration will have on port trade here and nationwide.

In hearings earlier this year, the American Association of Port Authorities said the higher tariffs on cargo and equipment moving through American ports “is already proving to be significant,” warned AAPA president Kurt Nagle.

Don't Edit

President Donald Trump, who last month said the United States would impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of imported goods. (Susan Walsh | AP Photo)

Trump last month said the United States would impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods and was prepared to tax all imports. Those levies came atop $50 billion worth already taxed earlier this year.

The president, who has tweeted "Tariffs are working big time," argues that such taxes protect American workers and force U.S. trading partners to change rules unfair to the United States.

But the cost is likely to include higher prices to consumers and a decline in trade.

"China is the entire county's trading partner," said John Nardi, president of the New York Shipping Association. "Of course we're concerned."

According to the AAPA, about 10 percent of the goods coming into this country from overseas will now be subject to the new tariffs.

"While it’s still a bit early for an impacts analysis, we’ve heard anecdotal reports, such as from ports in Cleveland and New Orleans, that steel and aluminum imports are way down," said AAPA spokesman Aaron Ellis.

Don't Edit

A straddle carrier loads a container onto a truck at the Port Newark Container Terminal in Newark. (Julio Cortez | AP file photo)

While many port managers have raised warning flags over the impact of tariffs, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the marine terminals in New York Harbor that includes Port Newark, Port Elizabeth, and facilities in Bayonne, Staten Island and Brooklyn, say the tariffs have yet to affect cargo volumes.

“So far, the tariff has had no impact on 2018 numbers,” said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman. “We are setting all time monthly record almost every month.”

That does not include imports of cars and trucks into the port, which handling more than 577,000 vehicles in 2017, compared to 505,000 in 2016.

Industry insiders say privately it could be "a considerable period of time" before they see data that will show what impact, if any, the tariffs will be having on the port.

Here were the Port Authority’s top 20 imports last year:

Don't Edit

(Pixabay)

No. 20: Fish, Crustaceans

*2017 TEUs: 41,226

*The twenty-foot equivalent unit, or TEU, is used to describe cargo capacity. One TEU is equal to a standard cargo container, which measures 20 feet long and 8 feet tall.

Source: PANYNJ

Don't Edit

No. 19: Edible fruit and nuts

2017 TEUs: 44,471

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

No. 18: Ceramic products

2017 TEUs: 46,133

Don't Edit

No. 17: Prepared cereal, flour, starch or milk

2017 TEUs: 48,165

Don't Edit

No. 16: Organic chemicals

2017 TEUs: 49,383

Don't Edit

(Pixabay)

No. 15: Glass and glassware

2017 TEUs: 54,498

Don't Edit

No. 14: Textile art

2017 TEUs: 63,557

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

No. 13: Wood

2017 TEUs: 70,391

Don't Edit

No. 12: Toys, games and sport equipment

2017 TEUs: 77,173

Don't Edit

No. 11: Vehicle parts

2017 TEUs: 79,219

Don't Edit

(Pixabay)

No. 10: Prepared vegetables,fruit, nuts

2017 TEUs: 79,763

Don't Edit

No. 9: Iron and steel

2017 TEUs: 81,996

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

No. 8: Paper and paperboard

2017 TEUs: 84,823

Don't Edit

No. 7: Rubber and rubber products

2017 TEUs: 92,588

Don't Edit

No. 6: Electronics, appliances

2017 TEUs: 124,994

Don't Edit

(Pixabay)

No. 5: Apparel

2017 TEUs: 167,408

Don't Edit

No. 4: Plastics

2017 TEUs: 181,232

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

No. 3: Beverages and spirits

2017 TEUs: 203,534

Don't Edit

No. 2: Machinery

2017 TEUs: 212,753

Don't Edit

(Pixabay)

No. 1: Furniture

2017 TEUs: 361,179

Don't Edit

The CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt passes under the newly elevated Bayonne Bridge on its maiden voyage to the United States in September 2017. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

A $1.7 billion bet

Part of the reason for the increase in port traffic can be attributed to the Port Authority's decision to spend $1.7 billion in an extraordinary effort to raise the Bayonne Bridge roadway. The project, which was completed a year ago, has brought larger cargo carriers to the ports here.

The bridge, built more than 80 years ago with an elevated roadway designed to accommodate what were then the tallest ships of the U.S. Navy, had become a chokepoint for ship traffic to the marine terminals in Newark and Elizabeth. If a ship couldn’t fit under the 150-foot bridge, it had to go elsewhere. At the same time, with many cargo vessels already a tight fit for the channel leading to the New Jersey terminals, those seaports were facing irrelevance.

The raising of the bridge roadway has brought a lot more ship traffic, Port Authority officials said. For the first half of 2018, cargo volumes in the Port of New York and New Jersey hit a record, with volumes up 6.8 percent over the same period in 2017.

“This port already supports 400,000 full time jobs in the bi-state region that generate $25.7 billion in wages, and given the substantial rise in cargo volumes this year, those numbers will only increase over time," said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole.

READ MORE ABOUT THE PORT

Don't Edit

ON THE WATERFRONT, there’s a longshoreman on the books who washes trucks.

He gets paid $465,981 a year. To wash trucks.

Fired when his bosses discovered he wasn’t actually showing up when he claimed to be working, he nevertheless regained his job—after an arbitrator concluded it was not unusual in the industry for employees to be paid “without being expected to work all the hours for which they are being paid.”

READ MORE

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

The death of Lawrence Ricci marked the last known mob hit tied to the waterfront, say investigators, and the murder has never been solved.

But more than a decade later, law enforcement officials say organized crime still stalks the docks.

READ MORE

Don't Edit

From illegal drugs to knockoffs of expensive designer merchandise, the nation’s seaports—long-seen as a soft-spot—are increasingly becoming a favored pipeline, say security analysts.

"There is a refocusing on maritime routes because there is so much violence and chaos in Mexico," said Scott Stewart, an analyst with Stratfor, an Austin-based security consulting firm.

READ MORE

Don't Edit

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.