Florida Gov. Rick Scott is leading a trade delegation to California in April in the hopes of enticing California cargo interests to use Florida ports.

In a letter to shipping professionals Thursday, Scott — who plans to be in Los Angeles April 12-13 — touts Florida’s more than $850 million investments in port infrastructure over the last four years and its “low-tax, business friendly climate.”

He added that state made record investments in Florida’s transportation system this year.

“Our investment in port infrastructure means Florida’s ports are ready and have the capacity to immediately handle increased cargo that could come to Florida as a result of port congestion on the other side of the country,” Scott wrote, adding that Florida ports handle more than 3.1 million cargo units annually, with the capacity for more.

Scott also brought up the business disruption resulting from the recent contentious contract talks between West Coast dockworkers and their employers. Negotiations, which ultimately ended in a tentative agreement Feb. 20 with the help of Labor Secretary Tom Perez, caused weekslong shipment delays which forced customers to reroute goods and productivity slowdowns on the West Coast, which are already facing other congestion issues.

Simply put, “Florida ports are undoubtedly a solution to this problem,” Scott wrote.

Scott also took a shot at California Gov. Jerry Brown.

“We’ve made job creation a priority while Governor Brown idly watches businesses flee California, which has the second highest unemployment rate of any state, only behind Mississippi,” Scott wrote.

Evan Westrup, spokesman for Brown’s office, countered that California has the seventh largest economy in the world, leads the nation in manufacturing, technology and life sciences and is at the top of Fortune 500 rankings.

He also boasted the state’s balanced budget, good credit rating and its creation of more than a quarter of the nation’s jobs in January.

“We can certainly understand why our friend from Florida is interested in visiting the Golden State,” Westrup said.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s two busiest seaports handling 40 percent of U.S. imports, were especially hammered by the congestion and it show in recent cargo numbers.

Cargo volumes at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach plunged 22.7 percent and 18.8 percent, respectively, in January when compared with the same month last year.

Beyond the labor dispute, industry leaders have pointed to bigger ships bringing more cargo and the uneven distribution of chassis — the trailers needed to tow cargo containers — as prompting the bottlenecks which had some companies diverting their cargo to ports in Houston and New York/New Jersey. Some even turned to air freight.

To strengthen Long Beach’s market share, Mayor Robert Garcia and Long Beach harbor leaders traveled to Europe this week to meet with executives of the world’s three biggest shipping lines to reassure them that steps are being taken to relieve congestion.

Long Beach port executives are reaching out to cargo owners and shippers, heading to trade association events in Florida and New England.

“We’ve been on the offense,” said Long Beach port spokesman Art Wong.

Contact Karen Robes Meeks at 562-714-2088.