U.S. and Hong Kong (2002)

White House Explains Action in Ports Work Stoppage

Following is a White House fact sheet on President Bush's October 7 action invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, under which his administration could seek a court injunction as early as October 8 to force West Coast port workers to return to work for 80 days:

(Note: In the fact sheet "billion" means 1,000 million.)

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October 7, 2002

President Takes Action to Protect America's Economy and Jobs

Executive Order

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Trade with Asia is particularly affected. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, India, and Malaysia are the top 10 destinations for containerized U.S. agriculture products. Together, these nations receive 85 percent of all agricultural shipments from the West Coast.

The costs to the economy become larger and more permanent the longer the ports remain closed.

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