Environmental and antibusiness regulations in the deep blue state are backing up port traffic. Allysia Finley writes:
The backup of container ships at the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports has grown in recent weeks despite President Biden’s intervention to get terminal operators to move goods 24/7. The ports said last week they would fine shipping companies that let containers sit at terminals too long. But consumers will end up paying the fines, and shippers aren’t to blame for the delays. Who is?
The two Southern California ports handle only about 40% of containers entering the U.S., mostly from Asia. Yet ports in other states seem to be handling the surge better. Gov. Ron DeSantis said last month that Florida’s seaports had open capacity. So what’s the matter with California? State labor and environmental policies.
Some 20 business groups recently asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency and suspend labor and environmental laws that are interfering with the movement of goods. Opening the Port of Los Angeles 24 hours a day “alone will do little without immediate action from the state to address other barriers that have created bottlenecks at the ports, warehouses, trucking, rail, and the entire supply chain,” they wrote.
[Allysia Finley, "California Is the Supply Chain’s Weakest Link," The Wall Street Journal, November 4]
