Infrastructure Alert - January 29, 2013

The current International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) contract extension expires at the end of February 6.  Carrier-paid container royalties remain the central issue in the negotiation.  Dockworker contracts were originally set to expire September 30, 2012, but have been renegotiated and extended on a short-term basis first until December 29, 2012, and now until February 6 as the two parties are struggling to come to a long-term agreement.  If the ILA and USMX fail to reach an agreement before the expiration deadline, the ILA could strike or the USMX could shut down its East and Gulf Coast ports.  Either decision would have an immediate, negative effect on the United States that would reverberate to most sectors of the economy.  The Obama administration has declined to comment on whether or not it would intervene given a port strike, instead urging the parties to resolve their negotiations as quickly as possible.  In 2002, facing a