West coast shipping disaster

Brian S said:

I read the article a couple weeks ago then kinda forgot about it. We produce a lot of goods in CA. Are there specific things we can't get locally that must be imported? I know most of our electronics, clothing, etc... come from China because of cheap labor. But if shipping costs skyrocket 10-20X I would think US labor and local shipping would soon become the cheaper alternative.

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I'm not an expert but I can't think of much we produce here in ca.,we do grow a lot an from what I see its mostly sent/sold to other countrys/states.We shop at diff.grocery stores an most of the produce we see/buy is from mexico,hell even the cat food we get friskies,9 lives,etc.is from china or S.E asia,most dog food also,it may be distributed from some warehouse in the USA but its not made there..Calif.produces little oil,most is brought in,most lumber is imported,as is our power!!!Water is getting very rare but we do have a lotta green lawns an grow lots of lettuce in the desert..Also ya gotta think of the rest of the country an elsewhere,stuff gets nasty an in short supply,real or perceived other states will buy/take what we have along with the feds an we will do the same to them,stuff will go to the highest bidder,regardless who it is....An now with covid our whole economy is upside down except for the stock market....An no I don't worry much about it but it is our reality like it or not..It does pay to be a prepper in many ways,lol...
Remember TP,paper towels ect..ammo,reloading supplies,pork,beef ?LOL it may not be over,Drought is here an long range forecasts more of the same next year for the west.... OK e'nuf ramblin from me...

I did a search just before my last post because I wasn't sure what CA produced myself. I live across the street from an Asian market that usually has produce 1/3-1/2 the price of the big chain stores. I assume a lot of it is imported but I think much of it comes from Mexico or south of the border.

Interesting about the cat food. Never owned one....only dogs. Curious about my dog's food I just looked at the bag of Pedigree and it has a made in USA logo. I don't think we sell much petroleum but I think we export a lot of natural gas.

I know we compete in a global market but producers can't tell us huge price increases are due to shipping costs for what we produce and sell locally. Speaking of pork. Went shopping with Mom yesterday because ribs were $1.69 a pound at Safeway this week. By the time we got there they were sold out.

Well....could not have been more wrong about the natural gas. Turns out we import 95% of it. And I knew we import electricity but didn't realize it was 1/3rd.

Water? Not a problem for me personally because I use so little. But I think that's going to affect produce prices more than shipping this year. Not many farmers markets near me. I watch for sales and clip coupons. Not a big eater or consumer in general. No mortgage, $8 per month for phone, $50-60 for PGE, no water bill or garbage collection, free internet, no cable, and drive fewer than 2500 miles per year. My expenses are pretty low which is good considering the cost of living here is 185% over the US average.

I noticed Newsom is already targeting Larry Elder for his climate crisis skepticism and wanting more offshore oil drilling. Gonna be in interesting recall election. Keep pushing for more mask and vax mandates Gavin. You'll be out of a job soon enough.