With the longshoremen locked out since last Saturday, nearly 200 ships are idling in West Coast ports, waiting to be unloaded. In Hawaii, which relies heavily on imports, some stores have run out of basics, like toilet paper and canned foods. On Thursday, the Pentagon said it would begin shipping cargo to its Hawaii commissaries to make sure that the 122,000 active and retired members of the military obtain the food and other goods they need.
Alaskans, too, were worrying about obtaining basic goods, but the two sides agreed on Friday to resume shipments to that state, something that is also being considered for Hawaii.
Some large retailers sought to minimize the impact of a possible port shutdown by accelerating their imports during the summer. But many small and medium-size companies did not have as much foresight and are being squeezed badly. Officials at Olivia Miller Inc, a fashion accessories company in Manhattan, fear that the company may be forced out of business because it has US$1.2 million worth of slippers -- big sellers during the fall -- stranded on ships.
Susan Lee, Olivia Miller's chief operating officer, said: "We sell a seasonal product, and if the shutdown doesn't end soon, our products won't be able to get there in time and our customers might start canceling their orders. If this goes on a long time, we can potentially lose US$1.2 million in sales."
Perhaps no businesses will be hurt more by the port closings than the thousands of farmers who grow perishable fruits and vegetables. Here in Salinas, home of John Steinbeck, some growers have delayed the harvest of their vegetables, reducing the hours of their farmworkers, hoping that the ports will reopen soon.
For Washington's apple growers, the lockout is especially frustrating because this is one of their best crops in years. "Every day this dispute drags on represents another day of sales lost in our foreign markets, and you can't get those sales back," said Welcome Sauer, the Washington Apple Commission's president.
Nick Kukulan, president of the Paramount Export Co, a leading produce exporter, estimates that $7 million in grapes, pears and other produce -- in about 350 refrigerated containers -- is stranded in West Coast ports. If the ports reopen soon, he said, that aging produce may be diverted to the domestic market and sold at a fraction of its normal value. Unless the ports reopen soon, though, he added, that produce will be good for nothing.
He said growers faced cascading problems. Not only might the stranded produce go bad, but growers like Tanimura & Antle might have to divert more produce to the domestic market, perhaps reducing prices in a market that already pays less than export markets. Another big fear is that if Asian grocers cannot stock American fruits and vegetables for several weeks, they may turn to growers in Europe or elsewhere, perhaps causing a long-term market loss for American agriculture.
"This whole thing is a triple whammy for the American farmer," Kukulan said.
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