(Washington) Joe Biden highlighted on Wednesday the progress his administration has made in easing logistical problems, which he said has helped avert a supply crisis during the holiday season.
“The goods are transported, the gifts are delivered and the shelves are not empty”, welcomed, from the White House, the American president, who spoke with the actors of the sector.
Mr Biden, whose economic policy has come under fire even in his Democratic camp, received a progress report on Wednesday from members of his cabinet and private sector CEOs on efforts to resolve oil chain problems. supply, slow inflation and stock stores for the holiday season.
“Today, retailer inventories are up 3% from last year,” said the president. “The stocks are healthy,” he continued, arguing that before the pandemic the availability of products in stores was around 91% and now stands at 90%.
This marked improvement is directly linked to the decongestion of the country’s ports.
“The number of containers passing through our ports is higher than ever,” commented Joe Biden, who felt he had put in place the adequate measures to stem the paralysis of containers.
The White House had pushed in October for the 24-hour opening of the port of Los Angeles, the largest in the United States, to speed up the unloading of goods and reduce the queue of freighters awaiting their turn. to unload.
Then in early November, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach imposed a levy on ocean carriers on their cargoes staying on the docks for more than eight days.
“Since then, the number of containers parked on the docks has fallen by nearly 50% and the average time spent on the containers on the docks has fallen by a week,” according to data released by the White House on Wednesday.
“The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle 40% of the country’s container imports, moved 15% more containers between January and November of this year than in 2018, the previous record,” he said. -she also indicated.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, recognized that the problem of shortages of truck drivers must also be tackled.
“We have heard a lot about the need for more drivers, which is very real. We set to work to resolve this problem, ”he said.
Faced with the vocation crisis, the Biden administration announced this week an action plan to recruit and retain more truckers by improving the quality of jobs.
On the other area of concern to Americans, inflation, Joe Biden pointed out that prices at the pump had fallen and had returned to the average recorded between 2011 and 2020.