久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Americas

Trade snags piling up in US

By WILLIAM HENNELLY in New York | China Daily | Updated: 2021-10-19 11:07
Share
Share - WeChat
With containers like these stacked at a port in Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday, supply chain disruptions are deepening in the US. [TAYFUN COSKUN/GETTY IMAGES]

Clogged ports and unfilled jobs add to economic strains amid retail spree

The words "supply chain" have jumped to the fore of the national conversation in the United States recently.

Backlogs at ports, worker shortages, a supply-demand imbalance and other economic realities stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have startled US consumers and politicians. Talk of a bleak holiday season with barren retail shelves and undelivered goods is growing louder.

On Sunday, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned that the supply chain problems likely will extend into 2022.

Buttigieg said the crunch was heightened by extraordinarily pent-up demand in the US.

"Demand is off the charts; retail sales are through the roof," he said in an appearance on CNN's State of the Union program, while transportation and shipping networks have struggled to keep pace.

"We are relying on supply chains that were built generations ago. It's one of the reasons why this entire year we have been talking about and working on infrastructure and are eager to see Congress to act to get this infrastructure deal through," Buttigieg told CNN's New Day program, in reference to the infrastructure bill put forward by the administration of US President Joe Biden and which has now been stalled in a divided Washington.

Biden on Wednesday announced an agreement by the Port of Los Angeles to begin 24-hour operations to ease congestion that has led to scores of cargo ships anchored off the Pacific coast waiting to unload.

Another Southern California port, Long Beach, has worked around the clock for a month. The two ports combined handle 40 percent of container traffic in the US, with the bulk of the shipments arriving from China.

Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero attributed the logjams to rising consumer demand and online sales, in an appearance on Fox News Live on Sunday.

"One factor is e-commerce," he said. "Americans have used e-commerce at a … 20 percent increase. So I think there's a certain aspect to this that is consumer demand, and that's one of the many factors that's causing the surge and disruptions of the supply chain. It's going to take collaboration by everybody in the supply chain."

With millions working from home during the pandemic, the yearslong drift to e-commerce has been turbocharged.

Consumer demand has grown so rapidly over the past two years, it's equal to about 50 million more people joining the economy, Jonathan Gold, vice-president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, told Business Insider.

"There are very few, if any, industries that could handle a ramp-up in demand like that, especially when you consider the lack of scalability in the supply chain infrastructure and manufacturing base," he said.

Economist Diane Swonk told The Washington Post: "We are opening up a global economy all at once. You're going to get problems. It is much easier to turn the lights off in a factory than turn them back on again."

'Everything shortage'

Allianz chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian, referring to the backlogs, told Fox News Sunday: "Things will get worse before they get better." He added that the supply chain snags amount to "the everything shortage".

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent in September, the US Labor Department reported last week. On a year-over-year basis, consumer prices jumped 5.4 percent, the most since January 1991. In September, gasoline prices rose 1.2 percent, a year-over-year increase of 42.1 percent. Food prices climbed 1.2 percent for the month.

Unfilled jobs and depleted workforces have stressed businesses, with delivery times on the rise for restaurant orders. The supply disruptions also have put political pressure on the Biden administration.

Congress, meanwhile, is grappling with passing two huge portions of Biden's domestic agenda: a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to upgrade roads, bridges and ports, and his even bigger Build Back Better social spending program.

The infrastructure bill has bipartisan support. But the massive package that expands the social safety net and addresses the climate crisis faces opposition from within the president's own Democratic camp as well as from Republicans.

Agencies contributed to this story.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久精品亚洲乱码伦伦中文 | 一区中文字幕 | 成年网站免费视频黄 | 欧美在线播放成人a | 欧美一及片 | 欧美成人资源 | 免费观看情趣v视频网站 | 一级女人毛片 | 精品国产免费观看久久久 | 日韩欧美a级高清毛片 | 九九免费精品视频在这里 | 亚洲天堂久久 | 成年女人毛片免费观看97 | 久草在线免费新视频 | 日本噜噜影院 | 亚洲精品色一区二区三区 | 国产99视频精品免费视频7 | 精品在线网站 | 在线成人免费视频 | 欧美丝袜自拍 | 国内自拍tv在线 | 精品视频一区在线观看 | 美女黄视频网站 | 国产成人亚洲精品2020 | 欧美亚洲日本一区二区三区浪人 | 成人毛片免费观看视频在线 | 欧美6699在线视频免费 | 日韩精品特黄毛片免费看 | 午夜精品视频 | 免费a视频在线观看 | 9cao视频精品 | 99亚洲视频 | 中文字幕一区二区三区有限公司 | 久久精品免视国产 | 亚洲天堂手机在线 | 欧美日韩国产在线观看一区二区三区 | 成年女人毛片免费观看97 | 欧美在线综合视频 | 亚洲在线视频播放 | 久久精品三级视频 | 韩国一级性生活片 |