Port Closure May Increase Pressure on Congress

"It's kind of shocking to find out how much business is driven by LA's corridors and ports," said Senior Vice President Wally Baker, of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. "The OnTrac Trade Impact Study mapped products throughout the country by Congressional District. It seems incredible that $2.6 billion is flowing between the Hoosier State and the LA Basin each year. According to the study Indiana had a $50 million cost in business interruption during the first week of the labor dispute. "The monthly cost to Indiana is $200 million and does not count the impact of other West Coast ports on the state," explained Baker, an Indiana native. "Even the US Treasury is very dependent on the revenue generated by the local rail corridors and ports. About $7 billion annually or 45% percent of all US customs revenues are assessed on products that go through the LA Basin ports and corridors each day. According to the study, Los Angeles County saw a cost of $805 million the first week of the work stoppage." In the local Southern California economy, the study shows that the Los Angeles County Congressional Delegation benefits from $42 billion of trade flowing through the region annually. "We have a strong economy in Southern California with a huge consumer base around the ports of LA and Long Beach," said Ken Ackbarali, vice president and managing director of Economic Consulting, at LAEDC. "The OnTrac Trade Impact Study was designed to help members of Congress better understand why corridors and ports are important and cannot be separated from their economic benefits. Certainly, the West Coast labor dispute has created a larger interest in rail corridors and container movements." The study also reveals that LA local ports and trade corridors deliver more than $196 billion annually or $537 million per day of products and commodities in every part of the country. The study looked only at cargo that went through LA area corridors and ports in 2000. Here are the Top 10 States that show annual benefit and the cost of the first week of the stoppage: Rank State Annual Value Monthly Value First Week Impact 1. California $93 billion $7.8 billion $1.8 billion 2. New York $16 billion $1.3 billion $308 million 3. Illinois $12 billion $1.0 billion $231 million Rank State Annual Value Monthly Value First Week Impact 4. Texas $11.8 billion $983 million $227 million 5. New Jersey $10.7 billion $892 million $206 million 6. Tennessee $4.7 billion $392 million $90 million 7. Michigan $3.6 billion $300 million $69 million 8. Georgia $3.5 billion $292 million $67 million 9. Arizona $3.3 billion $275 million $63 million 10. Missouri $3.1 billion $258 million $60 million Source: OnTrac Corridor Trade Impact Study