Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Monday that, after meeting with the leadership of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), he is against further automation of American ports. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers,” Trump said in his statement.
The issue of port automation also featured in the 2024 presidential campaign, when the 45,000 port workers represented by the ILA threatened to go on strike in early October after a breakdown in contract negotiations. The strike threatened to paralyze American commerce at a pivotal moment of the election, but was defused by, among other things, action from the Biden administration, which pressured both parties to come to a settlement in order to help with the recovery from Hurricane Helene.
Automation has become a contentious issue in the post-pandemic years, as concerns about supply-chain integrity have become more salient. During the pandemic, poor port performance caused major shortages in the country, as dozens of ships waited uselessly for their cargoes to be unloaded. American ports are also some of the least efficient in the world; in the most recent World Bank report on port efficiency, not one of the top 50 most efficient ports was American.
Proponents of automation argue that increasing port capacity will serve as a massive boon to the American economy by making exports more competitive and imports more affordable, as well as shortening transit times and strengthening American supply chains. Opponents, led by the ILA, argue that any potential economic gains are not worth the cost of high-paying American jobs that would be replaced by new technologies.
Trump’s statement agrees with this conclusion. “For the great privilege of accessing our markets, these foreign companies should hire our incredible American Workers,” he wrote.
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