The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) came to a tentative agreement in their ongoing contract dispute before their 15 January strike deadline.
Though this came as a relief to many, experts are still forecasting that the nation’s major ports are still going to see surges in cargo volume and costs through January.
National Retail Federation (NRF) Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said that the drawn-out negotiations were among a number of factors that were contributing to cargo surges.
“The agreement came at the last minute, and retailers were already bringing in spring merchandise early to ensure that they would be well-stocked to serve their customers in case of another disruption, resulting in higher imports,” he said in a 10 January NRF release. “The surge in imports has also been driven by President-elect Trump’s plan to increase tariffs because retailers want to avoid higher costs that will eventually be paid by customers. The long-term impact on imports remains to be seen.”
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett agreed, saying though the strike was avoided, its effects would not disappear immediately.
“We have narrowly averted a strike, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been an impact," he said. "Importers had already front-loaded cargo in anticipation of delays, giving a boost to imports in December and early January.”
As Gold told SeafoodSource in November, the businesses most likely to be harmed by the situation are ...
