Bengaluru: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Tuesday its preliminary analysis showed that a strike by U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers should have a limited impact on the availability of essential goods such as medicines and medical devices.
The dockworkers began their first large-scale stoppage in nearly 50 years earlier on Tuesday, halting about half the nation’s ocean shipping after negotiations for a new labor contract broke down over wages.
“We take our commitment to protecting and strengthening supply chains very seriously, and HHS has been closely tracking the situation at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports in preparation for potential impact,” the department said in a statement.
The HHS said it would work with other federal agencies and manufacturers to identify and alleviate potential shortages of life-saving products.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
