Since 2016, some 35,000 workers have quit or lost their jobs at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea’s port of Ulsan — in a downturn as dramatic as it was sudden.
When Japan decided to step up its fight with South Korea last month, it dug deep into the supply chain to impose sanctions on three obscure materials made by a handful of Japanese companies few have ever heard of.
Many auto parts suppliers have reported disappointing results and issued weak forecasts for the year, citing the China slowdown. And now the effect is rippling through the rest of the supply chain.
Imports have been piling up there over the past year or so — offering a kind of safety valve for the more than 200,000 U.S. businesses, from Home Depot to Walmart, that use California ports.