Depending on how long the strike lasts, it could present a problem for Biden and, by extension, Harris, in the final weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election.

U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports were reopened on Friday after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the industry's biggest work stoppage in nearly half a century, but clearing the cargo backlog will take time.

A long strike could make some products more expensive, and create a scarcity of popular toys during the holidays.

The International Longshoremen’s Association is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks that are used in the loading or unloading of freight at 36 U.S. ports. Those ports handle roughly half of the nations’ cargo from ships.