Mass. Businesses Missing Out On Chinese Imports, Local Spending Due To Coronavirus
RANDOLPH (CBS) - A forklift moved around boxes of medical devices from China in a Randolph warehouse. They were delayed and backlogged before they made it to Massachusetts.
"Customs brokers are doing less entries, the trucking companies are doing less container deliveries, warehouses are getting less product coming in," said Lindsay Barich, who owns Unitrans, a clearinghouse for imports and exports. He says business has slowed down since Coronavirus crippled China.
"Normally a ship you'd see 5,000 containers on it," he said. "Right now they might have 3,000."
U.S. census data shows Massachusetts brings in more than $4 billion worth of Chinese products a year. According to receipts of imports heading to Massachusetts companies, they range from tires to handbags, electronics, popular board games, and more. Even materials used to make candles here come from China.
"People engaged in commerce, the thing they hate most, is uncertainty," said James Rooney, president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. He said the postponement of this weekend's Seafood Expo at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center put a block on millions of dollars that would have poured into the local economy. "There's an immediate economic impact, spending that might have otherwise taken place," Rooney said. "First and foremost hotel room nights, a loss."
While factories, airports, and shipping ports reopened in China this week, Rooney said, the impact on Massachusetts is still very uncertain. "People are likely to put off spending and travel while we're in this period of uncertainty," Rooney said.