Biden Administration Discusses Unblocking Supply Chain

The White House is trying to clear up the backed up trade ports.

The White House is trying to clear up the backed up trade ports.

Shipping vessels are backed up in the United States’ major trade ports, with numerous ships idling in the ocean while they wait for their turn to dock and offload their contents. Insufficient working hours and a lack of staff have been cited as the major reasons for this problem, and the Biden Administration is working on solutions.

“The supply chain bottlenecks range industry to industry, but we certainly know addressing … those bottlenecks at ports could help address what we see in many industries across the country and, frankly, are leading people who are preparing for holidays, for Christmas, whatever they may celebrate — birthdays — to order goods and get them to people’s homes,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

“The supply chain is essentially in the hands of the private sector, so we need the private sector to step up to help solve these problems,” a senior administration official told reporters.

According to the White House, they’ve penned an agreement with the Port of Los Angeles, one of the largest shipping ports in the country, to begin running 24 hours a day indefinitely. It has also secured the assistance of major land shipping companies including FexEx and UPS to aid in the offloading process.

“By taking these steps,” the senior administration official said, “they’re saying to the rest of the supply chain, ‘You need to move too. Let’s step it up.'”