How the Government Shutdown Impacted Los Angeles Designers
As the dust settles from the longest government shutdown in American history, the wide-ranging impacts are coming into focus. In the design community, the shutdown directly affected those who found their imported goods, from tile to furniture, stalled at ports and customs, delaying installations and project timelines by weeks.
Natasha Baradaran, a Los Angeles–based interior designer, was forced to delay a client's move-in schedule because imported furniture was held at customs. "They shipped as planned, but they've just been stuck for the last two weeks, because no one is able to release them for us," Baradaran tells AD PRO.
Italian company Minotti has faced similar delays on its imports into the U.S. "The customs office was only partially manned during the shutdown, [and] there was a slowdown in exams, clearances, and general support, which caused a clog in the terminals," Sherine El Gazzar, a sales representative with the company, says. Minotti experienced two- to three-week delays on the release of goods during the government shutdown.
Brazilian furniture gallery Espasso managed to avoid any impact "by luck," says Carlos Junqueira, principal. "I'm always planning, because, coming from Brazil, there's always the possibility of a strike. This can destroy a business."
"The shutdown didn't directly affect the port," says Phillip Sanfield, a spokesperson for the Port of Los Angeles. "However, there has been a slowdown in recent months relating to a surge of goods from Asia, trying to beat the tariffs."
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection representative stated that operations continued during the shutdown, and any shipment delays were unrelated.
For now, it seems that the looming threat of another shutdown has passed, giving designers time to catch up on their progress in digging out from from the previous one’s effects.
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