Labor-management agreement reached at US East Coast ports to avoid supply chain crisis

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the Maritime Union (USMX) reached a preliminary agreement on a six-year master contract, and the strike originally scheduled to start on January 15, 2025 was canceled.

Covering ports from Maine to Texas, it avoids cargo backlogs and rising ocean freight rates that may be caused by strikes.

Previously, the market was worried that the strike would cause supply chain disruptions, but after the agreement was reached, the growth expectations of international ocean freight rates fell.