The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has expressed concern about the state of trade in the US, as dockworker strikes along the East and Gulf Coasts threaten to disrupt supply chains and negatively impact the macroeconomy.
During a roundtable discussion this week, led by US Department of Commerce assistant secretary Grant Harris, the association noted that plastics imports totalled $38.7 billion in the first half of 2024, while exports reached $38.6bn. Trade in plastics has far-reaching implications for the US economy, given the wide range of industries plastics serve.
“From a broader supply chain perspective, we hope the issue is resolved soon,” said PLASTICS’ chief economist Perc Pineda, on the matter of the dockworkers strike. “In the meantime, the US plastics industry, by and large, has the capacity to address potential supply gaps in manufacturing inputs due to the ports strike, just as it did during the Covid-19 pandemic – to keep the US economy moving.”
Although the US’s free trade partners, Mexico and Canada, accounted for 45.1 per cent of total US plastics industry exports and 30.3 per cent of imports year-to-date through July 2024, with trade primarily moving by rail or truck, trade with other countries also plays a significant role. As of July 2024, the estimated total exports of plastics materials and products, excluding plastics machinery and moulds for plastics, originating from The East and Gulf ports were $17.9bn while imports were $17bn.
Last year, PLASTICS reported a $1bn US trade surplus in plastics for the first six months. It also projected that the US would return to a plastics trade surplus in 2023, which appears to be confirmed in this year’s Global Trends Report.
