Poor management at ports along the United States West Coast has led to rising expenses as well as delays in unloading goods and Thai exporters are advised to have their goods delivered to the East Coast or other ports in Canada, according to Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s International Trade Promotion Department.
Nuntawan said her ministry has received a report from the Thai Trade Center in Los Angeles saying that a problem with US – Thailand trade could occur due to ongoing disputes at ports along the US West Coast, causing “unnecessary rising expenses” for (Thai) exporters.
Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s International Trade Promotion Department.
Thai exporters should, therefore, have their goods unloaded at ports along the East Coast or at other ports in Canada and then transport them by truck to the US, she said.
Although oil prices have declined and helped lowered goods delivery costs in the US, preventing workers from entering ports to work would force deliverers to switch to using other ports, which would push up costs that consumers would have to bear in the end, said Nuntawan.
Meanwhile, Jirapaphan Malithong, executive director of Thai Trade Center at Los Angeles, said that the expected switching of ports could cause a shortage of certain goods in the US.
For example, 866 million pairs of shoes imported by the US, of which 68 percent would be unloaded at Los Angeles and Long Beach, Jirapaphan said.
They are waiting for unloading and would probably not be delivered to stores in time for when schools reopen or for the upcoming spring and summer seasons.
