The components that make up the smartphone in your hand, the car you drive and nearly all manufactured goods — and the American companies that make them — are facing a combined multibillion-dollar risk under the ongoing port strike. "A big concern is that the longer this goes on, it is going to start impacting production here in the U.S.
As of Thursday afternoon, the nationwide unionized strike of the International Longshoremen's Association across 36 ports from Maine to Texas raged on, as the group has yet to reach agreement on a new contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance . More than 10% of U.S. exports are chemicals, according to the ACC, who have voiced greater worries about the dockworkers strike stalling critical exports and domestic production. "Our industry is really at the top of the supply chain.
When weighing potential back-up plans, diverting shipments to major West Coast ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach is reportedly not an option. "Companies are doing everything they can to mitigate the effects… But the options to do that are very limited… A high-volume product like plastic resin, it's very difficult to divert that from the production, which is primarily in the Gulf Coast area, out to the West Coast.