The Commerce and Labor committee will be holding hearings in January to get to look at the port slowdowns, which have caused economic uncertainty since October. The increasing congestion in West Coast ports come as longshoremen have been working without a contract for nearly six months. This is a major concern for the U.S. meat industry. U.S. Meat Export Federation CEO Phil Seng says about two-thirds of U.S. beef and pork exports rely on ocean freight and about 78-percent go through West Coast ports.
Negotiations on a new contract agreement between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union began in May. In recent weeks a more contentious tone has characterized the negotiations, and congestion at the ports has been a growing problem.
He says any delays to shipments of frozen beef and pork are costly to exports, but the shelf life of chilled product is also a concern.
Seng says the red meat industry is watching these developments carefully, hoping for positive momentum toward a new port labor contract.
