A former Trump official said the port strike would deal another blow to farmers
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, RNJ, said in 'The Evening Edit' that potential port strikes across the US could indeed 'exacerbate supply chain problems'.
Labor strikes at ports from Texas to Maine are expected to hammer US farmers already facing an economic downward spiral.
“We don't need another hit right now,” Kip Tom, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization during the Trump administration, told Fox Business. “And it will certainly affect agriculture.”
The unionized dockworkers of the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents 45,000 members at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, may go on strike Oct. 1 if an agreement is not reached by the end of Monday.
Longshoremen's union demands for a total ban on automation have been questioned as a port strike looms
Both sides of the labor dispute are deadlocked on issues including wages and automation at the port.
The Seamax Mystic container ship is shown near the Port of New Orleans on March 3, 2022. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A strike would have a domino effect on container availability, storage, rail and truck cargo as well as food supply.
“They're not going to process more chickens because they don't sell or they don't have a place to go. They're a perishable item. We can take beef, pork and dairy at the same time. In time, it backs up the whole supply chain,” Tom said. “What happens is that the market price goes down because you have excess inventory coming into the market.“
Which products will be disrupted by the port strike?
An analysis by JP Morgan estimated that a strike would cost the US economy up to $5 billion per day.
Separately, more than 300 farmers and ranchers are pushing for a farm bill to address the decline of an industry. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. agricultural net income is projected to decrease by 27%, or $55.61 billion, from 2022. Those figures were highlighted in a letter to Senate and House leadership in September and detailed by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
TAFT-HARTLEY ACT: Why Biden could use this labor law to override port strike
Farmer Ken Haas cuts hay recently to dry before bailing on August 11, 2024 in Elizabeth, Ill. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“Since the start of the year, crop prices for major crops traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange have fallen an average of 21% while total production costs are near record levels,” the group wrote.
| vaccine | safety | the end | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CME | CME GROUP INC. | 218.30 | -0.17 |
-0.08% |
| ICE | Intercontinental Exchange Inc. | 158.64 | +0.55 |
+0.35% |
“We're already at a point where we've been under the Trump administration [a] $32 billion trade surplus. And now we're expecting a $42 billion deficit in 2025. So, we are already facing a huge loss of exports and good food products from us,” Tom pointed out.
Eric Revell of Fox Business contributed to this report.
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