Christmas Tree Farmer’s Pain Is Americans’ Gain, for Now

A West Coast dockworkers’ slowdown that’s curbing overseas shipment of Christmas trees may have a domestic benefit: cheaper evergreens in the continental U.S.

Productivity at the Port of Tacoma, Washington, one of the largest Christmas-tree exporting points in the U.S., has fallen about 40 percent since Oct. 31 amid contract talks between longshoremen and their employers, Tara Mattina, a spokeswoman for the port, said yesterday by telephone. The delays have left cargo containers full of trees and other perishable products piling up at terminals, she said.