成千上万的铁路工人站在危险的边缘罢工供应链分析师和行业组织告诉ABC新闻，这将扰乱全国的供应链，推高已经处于紧张状态的家庭的价格，并最终使一些商店的货架空空如也。

美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周一表示:“让我明确表示:铁路停运将摧毁我们的经济。”。"如果没有货运铁路，许多美国工业将会倒闭。"

据报道，一次罢工每天会造成20亿美元的经济损失美国铁路协会代表铁路公司进行游说。铁路运输了全国大约40%的长途货运和三分之一的出口。

专家和贸易团体表示，罢工的经济成本将使普通美国人的财务吃紧，他们被迫为产品支付更高的价格，并放弃供应短缺的其他产品。

可以肯定的是，该行业可能会在12月9日最后期限到来之前避免罢工。

周三的房子通过一项强制执行9月份达成的临时协议条款的法律，但该协议遭到了几个工会的拒绝。此外，商会通过了一项法案，将给予铁路工人每年七天病假，比临时协议规定的一天病假有所增加。预计参议院将很快采取措施。

然而，如果罢工继续下去，它会对你的财务产生怎样的影响:

价格上涨

专家告诉ABC新闻，铁路罢工可能会提高包括天然气和食品在内的一系列商品的价格。

过去一个月，汽油价格下跌了7%，全国平均价格约为每加仑3.50美元。但GasBuddy的石油分析主管Patrick de Haan告诉ABC新闻，铁路罢工将使天然气价格回升。

“这很可能会导致价格上涨，”他说。“这将是一个大问题。”

根据美国石油管理局的数据，去年，货运铁路运输的原油达到每天162，000桶，约占美国产量的1.5%美国铁路协会，或AAR。

此外，AAR说，货运铁路运输75%的新车和轻型卡车，以及780，000车皮的纸张和木材。

全国制造商协会(National Association of Manufacturers)基础设施、创新和人力资源政策主任本·西格里斯特(Ben Williams)表示，如果罢工导致货运铁路中断，许多企业将转向卡车运输作为替代运输方式，从而提高配送成本。

“这是供求关系，”他说。"卡车的现货价格无疑会暴涨."

潜在的价格上涨将会到来，因为通胀率已经接近40年来的最高水平，上个月消费者价格同比上涨据报告的为7.7%。

“在我们已经经历的基础上，这可能会导致价格上涨，”加州大学圣地亚哥分校经济学教授凯尔·汉德利告诉美国广播公司新闻。“这是对已经紧张的供应链的又一次冲击。”

供应短缺

专家和贸易团体表示，如果潜在的罢工持续几天到几周，其影响将从价格上涨扩大到供应短缺。

西北大学土木与环境工程名誉教授Joseph Schofer告诉美国广播公司新闻说:“最初，大多数产品都很容易获得，因为零售商和制造商往往会增加库存和存货，因为他们对COVID期间的错误和短缺感到恐惧。”。

“如果罢工继续下去，库存将会减少，影响将会扩散，”他补充道。

与价格上涨一样，短缺可能会影响到能源、农业、汽车和制造业等行业。

美国农场局联合会主席齐皮·杜瓦尔(Zippy Duvall)在一份声明中表示，铁路罢工将对食品供应构成重大挑战。

“农民不仅依靠火车运输食物和饲料，他们还依靠铁路为农场带来化肥等重要物资，”她说。“关闭或放缓将对我们的国家和全球粮食安全产生灾难性后果。”

乔治城大学商业和公共政策中心的战略和经济学教授杰夫·马谢尔告诉ABC新闻，最终，罢工将导致零售商货架空空如也。

“罢工将导致大量零售产品短缺，增加消费者和企业的成本，以及工厂停产，”他说。

然而，全国零售联合会供应链和海关政策副总裁乔纳森·戈尔德告诉美国广播公司新闻，让礼品购买者感到宽慰的是，假日购物基本上不会受到罢工的影响。

他说:“在假日购物季，很多商品在假期前就被转移了。”

加州大学圣地亚哥分校的Handley说，尽管如此，铁路罢工造成的经济损失超过了许多美国人的预期。

“当这些事情出现时，我们发现铁路对美国经济有多重要，”他说。"在大多数情况下，它完全在后台运行，没有人会看到它."

What a rail strike would mean for your finances

Hundreds of thousands of rail workers stand on the brink ofa strikethat would snarl the nation's supply chain, driving up prices for households already under strain and eventually leaving some store shelves bare, supply chain analysts and industry groups told ABC News.

"Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy," President Joe Biden said on Monday. "Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down."

A strike would cause $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to theAssociation of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of rail companies. Rail transports about 40% of the nation's long-distance freight and one-third of exports.

The economic costs of a strike would crunch the finances of everyday Americans forced to pay more for products and forgo others in short supply, the experts and trade groups said.

To be sure, the industry may avert a strike before the deadline arrives on Dec. 9.

The House on Wednesdaypasseda law that imposes the terms of a tentative agreement reached in September, but since rejected by several unions. In addition, the chamber passed a bill that would grant rail workers seven sick days each year, an increase from one sick day afforded under the tentative agreement. The Senate is expected to take up the measures soon.

If the strike moves forward, however, here's how it would affect your finances:

Price increases

A rail strike would likely increase prices for a range of goods that includes gas and food, experts told ABC News.

The price of gas has fallen 7% over the past month to a national average of about $3.50 per gallon. But a rail strike would send gas prices back upward, Patrick de Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told ABC News.

"It very likely would cause prices to rise," he said. "It would be a major problem."

Last year, crude oil carried on freight rails amounted to 162,000 barrels per day or approximately 1.5% of U.S. production, according to theAssociation of American Railroads, or AAR.

Moreover, freight rails transport 75% of new cars and light trucks, as well as 780,000 carloads of paper and lumber, the AAR said.

If a strike halts freight rail, many business will turn to trucking as an alternative form of delivery, raising distribution costs, said Ben Siegrist, the director of infrastructure, innovation and human resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers.

"It's supply and demand," he said. "Spot rates for trucks would unquestionably skyrocket."

The potential price spike would arrive as inflation already stands near a 40-year high, with year-over-year consumer price increases last monthreportedat 7.7%.

"It's likely to cause some increases in prices on top of what we're already experiencing," Kyle Handley, a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, told ABC News. "It's another shock to supply chains that are already stressed."

A car passes a gas station in Annapolis, Maryland, March 14, 2022.

Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Supply shortages

If a potential strike extends from a few days to a few weeks, the effects will extend from price increases to supply shortages, experts and trade groups said.

"Initially, most products will be readily available as retailers and manufacturers have tended to increase stocks and inventories, having been scared by mistakes and shortfalls during COVID," Joseph Schofer, a professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, told ABC News.

"Were the strike to continue, inventories will be drawn down and the impacts will spread," he added.

As with price increases, the shortages could affect industries like energy, agriculture, autos and manufacturing.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement that a rail strike would pose a significant challenge for food supply.

"Farmers not only rely on trains to transport food and feed, they also rely on rails to bring important supplies like fertilizer to the farm," she said. "A shutdown or slowdown would have devastating consequences to our national and global food security."

Eventually, a strike would bring barren shelves at retailers, Jeff Macher, a professor of strategy and economics at Georgetown University's Center for Business and Public Policy, told ABC News.

"A strike would lead to substantial retail product shortages, increased costs to consumers and firms, and plant shutdowns," he said.

To the relief of gift buyers, however, holiday shopping would remain largely unaffected by a strike, Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, told ABC News.

"For the holiday shopping season, a lot of goods are moved well in advance of the holidays," he said.

Still, the financial disruption from a rail strike adds up to more than many Americans would expect, said Handley, of the University of California, San Diego.

"When these things come up, we find out how important rail is to the American economy," he said. "For the most part, it's operating entirely in the background and nobody ever sees it."