CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 200 agriculture organizations on Friday morning urged the White House to address key U.S. agricultural supply chain issues in the face of a potential East and Gulf Coast port strike that could begin on Tuesday.
The groups said the industry is facing “imminent and severe shipping disruptions” from a potential work stoppage, snarled rail lines and historically low river levels backing up grain barge shipments and impacting trade with Mexico, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
The groups asked the federal government to direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the lower Mississippi River to maintain 12-foot-deep channels, and step in to reopen the movement of grain by rail from the U.S. to Mexico.
(Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter and David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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