Ships in some ports on the West Coast in recent weeks amid a rise in shipping prices, as companies blame slowed operations on labor action.
“Container rates for importing 40-foot containers to the United States’s West Coast over the past week have jumped 20 percent week-over-week, likely as a result of the anticipated congestion at the ports. This follows a dramatic lull in rates after last year’s highs,” said Eytan Buchman, who works with the logistics booking company Freightos.
Last weekend, German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd said port operations in Oakland, Calif., came to a halt, citing “heavy traffic experienced at the gate” due to a strike.
The news came as some workers have been organizing work stoppages amid negotiations with operators over wages, lawmakers say.
“They’ve negotiated through some of the most difficult issues and now are onto wages,” Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in an interview this week.
“When you’re 75 percent of the way through negotiations, it’s hard, but they need to get back in the room and focus on getting this done so that it doesn’t affect our supply chain.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said Biden administration officials are paying close eye to talks.
Some D.C. officials are also worried about the impact rising container prices could have on the economy amid the Fed’s ongoing fight against inflation.
“Acting [Labor] Secretary [Julie] Su and others in the administration are regularly engaging with the parties, encouraging them to stay at the negotiating table and finish their work,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.
“The path forward is for the port workers and their employers to resolve the negotiations so that workers get the wages, benefits, and quality of life that they so deserve,” she said.
The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here.
