Dock strike that spurred panic buying of wrong products suspended until January

The toilet paper aisle at Sam's Club in Monroeville was cleared out Thursday. Roughly 99% of tissue products used by Americans, including toilet paper, are produced in the U.S.

Consumers apparently were taking the longshoremen's strike seriously, as evidenced by reports of panic shopping Thursday at stores all over the Eastern U.S.

Reports from numerous states, including Pennsylvania, show shoppers were rushing to buy supplies, fearful of shortages as ports from Maine to Texas were idle, cutting off goods from overseas.

But the Associated Press reported Thursday evening that the union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports has reached a deal to suspend their strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The union, the International Longshoremen's Association, is to resume working immediately at least until January, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has yet to be signed.

The agreement will allow the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the shippers and ports, time to negotiate a new six-year contract.

The person also said both sides reached agreement on wage increases, but details weren't available.

The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at the ports from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday shopping traffic at 36 ports that handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.

The walkout raised the risk of shortages of goods on store shelves if it lasted more than a few weeks. But most retailers had stocked up or shipped items early in anticipation of the work stoppage.

Before news broke of the longshoremen's settlement, panic buying was taking place.

At the Giant Eagle in New Kensington, Roy Lammey bought double of everything Thursday afternoon, from razors to English muffins -- and that was just the start of his stockpiling as he fretted over the possibility of price hikes eating into his fixed income.

"My wife plans on spending about $400 tomorrow or Saturday," he said. "She has a list two pages long."

But experts say the panic, even without news of the settlement, was misplaced -- or at least premature. And many consumers were buying the wrong products regardless of the effects of the strike in the long term.

Take toilet paper.

It vanished from shelves in many stores, including places such as Monroeville and Greensburg, on Thursday as shoppers rushed to stock up. But toilet paper, and things such as paper plates, are produced almost entirely in the United States, Canada and Mexico, meaning their supplies are unaffected by a dockworkers strike.

Roughly 99% of tissue products used by Americans, including toilet paper, are produced in the U.S., and 90% of that is made using recycled materials, according to the American Forest & Paper Association, the trade group representing paper and wood manufacturers.

If the strike by longshoremen affecting ports along the East and Gulf coasts had dragged on for more than a couple of weeks, consumers could have seen shortages of foods such as fruits, some canned goods and seafood.

There also would have been plenty of soybeans, chicken and other major American food products that were unable to have been shipped overseas.

About 25,000 dockworkers at 14 major ports from Maine to Texas walked off the job Tuesday, essentially shutting down movement of goods that enter or exit the eastern United States by sea.

Represented by the International Longshoremen's Association, the dockworkers were demanding a 77% raise over six years and a complete ban on the use of automated cranes, gates and container-moving trucks in unloading or loading freight. The union is negotiating with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents the ports and ocean carriers.

Had the work stoppage continued, perishable foods would have been the first items affected in stores.

More than 75% of bananas arrive at the closed ports, according to the American Farm Bureau. Nearly 90% of imported cherries, 85% of canned food, 82% of hot peppers and 80% of chocolate that arrives by ship containers are offloaded at these ports, as well.

But there would not have been "bread lines" or the lack of basic foodstuffs.

While Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall acknowledged the strike threatened to paralyze the traffic of goods, American farmers grow enough to keep the county fed.

"Our nation relies on international trade for everything from electronics to machinery," Duvall wrote before the settlement was announced. "Families also count on the import of food like bananas, coffee and specialty items, including chocolates and European beer.

"While there is a risk of shortages of some items, the United States is fortunate that it can meet its nutritional needs without importing food. America's farmers grow a diverse range of food items that ensure the nation's food independence. Rest assured, America's food supply is strong, and store shelves will continue to be stocked with domestically raised products."

But it's not just imports that were being affected. American goods shipping overseas also couldn't have reached their destinations.

The Farm Bureau Federation says a strike disrupts significant quantities of agricultural exports, including hay, cotton, red meat, vegetables, dairy products and "edible nuts."

While most grain exports wouldn't be affected, the federation pointed out 2.67 million metric tons of soybeans were exported through East Coast ports in containers in 2023, representing 6% of U.S. waterborne soybean exports, according to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service data.

And soybean producers are expected to harvest a record crop this year. Estimates of stored soybean stocks were up 22% over last year.

Nearly 80% of waterborne poultry exports would have been jeopardized, lowering prices for poultry producers as they lost vital market access. The Port of Savannah, alone, is responsible for nearly 50% of East Coast containerized poultry exports.

Talk to consumers, and imports come to mind far faster than exports. Some consumers, though, were ahead of the game.

Mandi Piroch, shopping Thursday at the New Kensington Aldi, had been preparing. Her family of four has two refrigerators and a deep freezer full of food to fall back on, plus a productive garden on their 10-acre property.

"We try to live off the grid as much as possible," she said.

Restaurateurs such as Tony Jioio, owner of Jioio's in the Carbon neighborhood of Hempfield, said he hadn't seen any impact on the supply chain from his distributors but expected it to happen if the strike lingered.

"The cheese could go up in price. There's Italian flour, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, salami, some ham. It all goes through the docks," and that could have driven up the price of ingredients for the food his restaurant makes, Jioio said.

The dockworkers strike would have had an impact on both sides of the trade equation. U.S. producers exported about 122,000 tons of beef in July, with a value of about $911 million, according to the latest data from the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

If meat could not be exported, and all that beef remained in the United States, it likely would have driven down meat prices, Jioio said.

Interviewed before the settlement was announced, Jioio, who has operated the family-owned Italian restaurant for decades, predicted he would have felt the impact in a month.