PORT STRIKE COULD HIT HALF OF U.S. IMPORTS
Many importers and manufacturers pulled forward orders over the summer to try to get ahead of the looming East Coast port strike now underway. But if not resolved soon, the strike could eventually affect the shipping of 40% to 50% of U.S. imports, S&P Global Market Intelligence writes. Those disruptions would surely put upward pressure on goods prices, S&P notes, complicating the Fed’s ambition to wind down its fight against inflation. Higher shipping costs to the East Coast in anticipation of the strike have already contributed an inflationary impulse, S&P notes.