Outside the Beltway

Port Strike Could Cripple Economy

Yet another plot twist in Campaign 2024.

James Joyner · Saturday, September 28, 2024 · 6 comments

I stumbled on the USA Today Network report “Port strike could empty shelves, hike prices; what it means for you” scrolling through YahooNews this morning.

A port strike by longshoreman workers along the East and Gulf coasts would create economic chaos with far reaching impacts to businesses, consumers and even your kitchen table.

Grocery aisles could be bare of popular fruits like bananas within weeks, given that about two-thirds of bananas in the U.S. arrive in East Coast ports.

The Port of Wilmington in Delaware is the leading port for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. and Chiquita Fresh North America.

Based in North Bergen, New Jersey, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) represents 85,000 workers, of which approximately 45,000 work under the shipping industry group US Maritime Alliance (USMX) contract. USMX represents the major shipping lines, all of which are foreign-owned, terminal operators and port authorities.

The negotiations between the ILA and USMX have been stalled for months.

A strike would effectively shut down three dozen locations at 14 port authorities along the East and Gulf coasts, causing shortages and driving up prices on a host of goods.

So, I like bananas as much as the next guy but having to do without for a while would hardly be catastrophic.

A port strike would impact vehicle imports, auto parts, machinery, fabricated steel and precision instruments.

The Port of Baltimore, Maryland leads the nation in car shipments.

Agricultural impacts such as the imports of bananas and fruits or exports of soybeans and soybean meal would be felt. However, even more significant impacts would be felt on the chilled or frozen meat products and eggs, which require refrigerated containers that cannot sit for very long.

“Any fruit that arrives after 1 October will be condemned to the trash can,” Peter Kopke Sr. of Port Washington-based importer Kopke Fruit told The Orange County Register. “And all of the people who have invested in that business will lose a fortune.”

Knitted and non-knitted apparel, furniture, plywood and pharmaceutical products and year-end holiday items would be among the endless list of products impacted by the strike.

Officials estimate that it could take anywhere from four to six days to clear backlog from just a one-day strike, and weeks or more if the strike stretches one week.

Oh. Well, that’s bad. Aside from the inconvenience, this could cripple the economy for weeks, if not months.

What’s worse is that—as OTB readers may be tracking—there’s a rather significant election 38 days from now. And early voting starts before that. People are still angry about higher grocery prices that were a side effect of the COVID pandemic. Can you imagine if they can’t afford eggs, meat, and produce on election day?

Talk about your black swan events.

One presumes President Biden and team will be aggressively pressuring both sides to resolve this dispute.