[Freight Weekly] Trump Endorses Longshoremen Union Despite Risk of Strike

🙉President-elect Donald Trump announced his support for port workers, who are represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). The union continues its stand-off with USMX over concerns about port automation in the negotiation of a new master contract that impacts East and Gulf Coast ports.

• The ILA published a press statement on Dec. 15 on its website, depicting union President Harold Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett meeting with President-elect Trump and posing for a picture. The Daggetts called Trump’s praise for the union a show of “strong support and a commitment” to ILA.

• “Throughout my career, I’ve never seen a Politician– let alone the President of the United States – truly understand the importance of the work our members do every single day,” President Daggett said in a Facebook post he made this week.

• Trump lauded the union for opposing automation, which is a key fear among ILA members. They fear companies represented by USMX will automate port operations to the point where machines and AI systems replace human jobs.

• USMX has maintained that it has no intention of doing so despite the need to modernize existing operations at ports that are experiencing growing throughput volumes of containerized, sea bulk, and many other cargo categories like autos.

• Despite the incoming president’s endorsement, many observers are concerned about the elephant in the room: the contract negotiation deadline of Jan. 15.

• If USMX and ILA are unable to reach an agreement on a master contract by then, a strike will be called. The strike that was called could be longer and far more detrimental to operations than the short-lived strike that happened in Oct. 2024.

• Mike Short, the president of global forwarding at CH Robinson, told Supply Chain Dive that he fully expects an ILA strike to happen in the new year, especially with the backing of the incoming president-elect. “Negotiations have yet to resume, and both sides have released statements that suggest they are willing to allow another strike,” Short explained in his response to questions.

• And this is true. Communications by USMX and ILA show both sides holding the line against one another in a veritable stalemate that has many sectors on edge.

• In last week’s newsletter, we discussed how several hundred trade groups and industry associations — especially the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Trump-allied group representing big business interests in Washington, D.C. — urged ILA and the port employers to continue the negotiations and reach a deal or harm literally hundreds of thousands of workers and small-to-medium-sized businesses.

• It is also crucial to remember that some could view Trump’s support for the ILA as an element of his “America First” protectionism. While simply speculation on our part, the element to consider is that Trump has to deal with geopolitical and international trade pressures as well. Many of those pressures are of his own doing due to his promised hard-line day-one tariffs on Canada, Mexico, & China.

Bottom line: A strike, tariffs, renewed tensions at international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization, and fraught foreign policy promises via Marco Rubio (if he is confirmed) could really lead to global supply chain disruptions in the very near future.

MORE: “Waiting game: Port strike or no port strike?” - Freight Waves

CONTEXT: “U.S. tariffs potentially devastating for Canadian businesses…” - The Canadian Press via the Bowen Island Undercurrent

Find New Cargo & Logistics Partners with the FFS Load Board

This newsletter is brought to you by the FFS Load Board. TODAY, right now, shippers need quotes on the following loads:

🚢Container — mid-size SUV, home goods: Virginia, USA, to Monrovia, Liberia

🚢Container — 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee: Baltimore, MD, USA to Senegal

🚚LTL — 1600 lbs, sterile water solution: Tijuana, MEX, to Orange County, CA, USA

🚚LTL — two 180 lbs espresso machines: Sulphur, LA, to Niagra Falls, NY, USA

📈 BY THE NUMBERS

⛽ Diesel: $3.494 / gal (⬆️from $3.458 last week) - EIA

✈️ Air Cargo Index (Nov. ‘24): 193.3 (⬇️from 197.7 in Oct. ‘24) - FRED

🚢 Global Container Index: $3,658.60 on Dec. 19 - Freightos

📰OTHER NEWS IN FREIGHT📰

🫠Maersk predicts growth in global trade despite disruptions: Charles van der Steene, Maersk’s president for North America, said that global trade could rise by 7 percent in 2025, despite concerns about Trump’s tariffs, nan ILA port strike, and conflicts.

🌞West Coast ports saw record throughputs in 2024, especially at LA and Long Beach: Port of LA marked 9,375,735 teu of volumes for the first 11 months — 19 percent up on 2023. Port of Long Beach marked record November volumes and expects December to be the same as they close out the year. More at The Loadstar…

🥊Canada and Mexico are gearing up to fight Trump’s tariffs. Here is why:

🇲🇽 Mexico just announced new tariffs on textiles—35 percent on about 138 finished goods and 15 percent on about 17 textile products. While the tariffs don’t apply to the U.S. or Canada right now, this could change given Donald Trump’s fraught return. Trump promised to punish the Mexican economy with sky-high tariffs in a bid to quell migration across the southern border to the U.S. Mexico’s leadership has promised to fight back.

and…

🇨🇦 According to the BBC, Canada has announced new, beefed-up security along its southern border, including the adoption of new protocols, the implementation of a “joint strike force” of law enforcement agencies, and heightened surveillance. The BBC report notes that much of this overhaul comes after Trump threatened Canada with a 25 percent tariff that could damage the country’s economy. Other measures to counter the tariffs can be seen in border provinces, with the U.S. threatening to block energy exports.

Check out Freight Weekly on LinkedIn. You can also check us out on X (formerly Twitter) for regular brief updates.