The ILA union launched the strike in the ports of the American East Coast shortly after midnight on October 1st local time.

The strike blocks everything from food to automobile shipments across dozens of ports from Maine to Texas, a disruption analysts warned will cost the economy billions of dollars a day, threaten jobs and potentially stoke inflation.

Around half of the container throughput in US foreign trade is handled via the East Coast ports. Furthermore, it is likely that other trades, such as Asia, will feel the effects of a shortage of empty containers. A global increase in sea freight rates seems to be unavoidable.

                                                                           (By Reuters & Washingtonpost)