About 45,000 union workers could walk away from their jobs at seaports on the US East and Gulf coasts on October 1, shutting down vital trade arteries just weeks before the country’s presidential election.
A JP Morgan analysis predicted that a strike could cost the US economy $5 billion a day.
The strike could affect 36 ports that handle about half of U.S. maritime imports. That could impact the availability of a range of goods from bananas to clothes and cars shipped by container, while creating weeks of backlogs at ports. It could also fuel rising shipping costs, which could be passed on to voters already frustrated by housing and food inflation, according to logistics experts.
