The global supply chain has struggled against the backdrop of rising demand, labor shortages, and manufacturing delays, as countries have begun to emerge from the economic damage they incurred during the coronavirus pandemic.
Actually, President Joe Biden detailed several new steps the U.S. is taking to strengthen and streamline supply chains as he met with G20 members to discuss the bottlenecks hampering the global economy.
Biden noted that very few people had ever tracked the flow of goods at ports until it became clear this year that the infrastructure for moving goods around the world was badly broken and in need of repair, reports the Associated Press.
“Supply chains are something that most of our citizens never think twice about until something goes wrong,” Biden said. “It isn’t a problem any one of our nations can solve through unilateral actions. Coordination is the key reason for this meeting.”
It is also well worth mentioning that despite many of the world’s leading economies devoting a combined $15 trillion to combat the fallout from COVID-19, most of those countries are in the same boat as the U.S. – trying to slog through mass shortages as ships are waiting to dock, the prices of shipping containers climb, not enough trucks exist to haul goods from ports, and virus outbreaks halt factory production.
CNN cites a Moody’s Analytics report issued in mid-October that described the “weakest link” in the world’s supply chain woes as being the shortage of truck drivers — an issue that has contributed to congestion at ports and caused gas stations in the United Kingdom to run dry.
Biden discussed how each county could identify and resolve “bottlenecks,” adding that greater coordination among countries is needed to strengthen the supply chain. The president also said the State Department will be providing funding to assist Mexico and Central America in relieving supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks
It all boils down to one issue – The inability to get goods made and shipped is raising prices and dragging down the global economy.
