The U.S. transportation industry is once again under severe test. The Seattle port on the west coast of the U.S.ly stopped port freight operations on June 10 due to labor disputes, which could have a major impact on trade between Asia and the United States.

Seattle Port is one of the largest maritime ports in North America and is critical to the U.S. supply chain, accounting for 12% of U.S. GDP. The port is the main export port for U.S. agricultural exporters and about 40% of the work in Washington State is related to trade. In addition, Seattle Port is also the closest port of the U.S. to the Far East, with close trade with China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and India.

According to data from the Seattle Port website, the top six commodities exported through the port in 2022 include apples, milk, beef, wheat, potatoes and dried grasses.The U.S. Agricultural Transport Alliance has warned that a port disruption would damage the reputation of U.S. agricultural exporters as a reliable trading partner.

At present, labor disputes in U.S. West Coast ports are still ongoing, with terminal workers in key positions slowing down and some workers even striking directly from the entire U.S. West Coast ports from California to Washington, DC. Shipping officials at U.S. busiest container ports Los Angeles Port and Long Beach Port have warned that up to 28 ships scheduled to arrive this week will face delays unless terminal workers resume work.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has asked the Biden government to appoint an independent mediator to help the two sides reach an agreement before delays begin to affect the U.S. supply chain. If the mediator fails to guide the two sides to reach an agreement, the Biden government will be able to invoke a federal law forcing terminal workers to resume normal operations.

Even so, the Biden government has faced repeated calls from retailers concerned about additional costs and delays, especially as problems such as Panama drought aggravate maritime trade routes risks. In recent months, many cargo owners have been transferring goods from Asia via the Panama Canal to the East Coast and the Gulf Coast ports to mitigate the risk of strike disruption. However, due to capacity limitations, plus the Panama Canal’s rising charges due to severe drought, cargo owners may opt for more expensive and time-consuming alternatives to transport goods from Asia via the Suez Canal instead of the Panama Canal, or risk delays at the Long Beach in Los Angeles, paying additional railway charges.

Nevertheless, after a series of labor strikes on June 2 and 7, operations in Los Angeles Port and Long Beach Port in the United States have been restored to normal.