Together with officials from the adjacent Port of Los Angeles, “we will look at every possible way to improve that system,” Slangerup said in an interview last week. “The goal is to cut costs and improve speed. When we are done, it will revolutionize the entire marine supply chain.”
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $51.4 billion in March, up $15.5 billion from $35.9 billion in February, revised. March exports were $187.8 billion, $1.6 billion more than February exports. March imports were $239.2 billion, $17.1 billion more than February imports.
Trade figures released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday suggest gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, contracted in the first three months of the year.
The nation’s trade deficit expanded by 43.1% in March from February, the largest monthly widening since 1996, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. A record level of non-petroleum imports flowed into the U.S. after a labor dispute at West Coast ports ended, causing the seasonally adjusted trade gap to widen to $51.37 billion.
According to the Teamsters, the job action this week delayed the movement of goods for major retailers because most terminals did not accept trucks from the four companies.
But the floating behemoths are overwhelming many U.S. ports that weren’t built to handle such supersize ships. Of the 10 busiest U.S. ports by container volume, as calculated by the American Association of Port Authorities, at least seven are grappling regularly with congestion.
If dockworkers honor those lines, the flow of goods could grind to a halt. However, when dockworkers stopped work during previous trucker strikes, they were quickly ordered back by an arbitrator.
Key issues in the strike include Teamsters’ contention that drivers should be classified as full-fledged employees of trucking firms and the union’s allegation that drivers are not receiving the full amounts of wages they are owed.
Due to problems with refineries in California, gas prices rose sharply in the state and in the Sacramento region. The average price of a gallon of regular gas is $3.257 compared to $2.974 a week ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
Truck drivers who haul goods from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will vote today whether to launch another strike beginning as early as Monday morning, union officials announced Friday.
Container volumes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach came roaring back in March, with the largest US port complex reporting a 24 percent increase in container traffic compared to March 2014.
It may be one of the thorniest, and most critical, votes the California congressional delegation has faced in decades, a proposal pitting Silicon Valley and Hollywood against big labor over a trade pact the Obama administration calls a linchpin of its economic agenda.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $35.4 billion in February, down $7.2 billion from $42.7 billion in January, revised. February exports were $186.2 billion, $3.0 billion less than January exports. February imports were $221.7 billion, $10.2 billion less than January imports.
California’s merchandise export trade was down nearly 9% in February over the same month last year, according to a Beacon Economics analysis of foreign trade data released this morning by the U.S. Commerce Department.
The now-settled labor dispute at the West Coast ports appears to have slowed the flow of imports and exports. The strong dollar, weak global demand as well as lower crude oil prices also likely impacted the trade balance in February.