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The Times podcast: Unclogging America’s biggest ports

Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach backup
Sunset illuminates container ships floating near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, waiting to be unloaded.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Nearly half of imports in the United States go through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. They’re the largest in the U.S., but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a humongous backlog of ships stuck at sea, making imported goods more expensive. The wait to unload cargo is so bad at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach that President Biden is taking action. Today, we’re going to discuss the backup’s repercussions with three L.A. Times reporters who cover the ports, the global market and the White House.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times national and global economy reporter Don Lee, L.A. Times White House reporter Chris Megerian and L.A. Times California economy, labor and workplace reporter Margot Roosevelt

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About The Times

“The Times” is made by columnist Gustavo Arellano, senior producer Denise Guerra and producers Shannon Lin, Melissa Kaplan and Ashlea Brown. Our engineer is Mario Diaz. Our editors are Lauren Raab and Shani O. Hilton. Our theme song was composed by Andrew Eapen.
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