“these shortages and delays are the product of many cross-cutting problems that have existed for years, including the Covid-19 pandemic, rising consumer demand, and a global and highly optimized manufacturing network that doesn\u2019t adapt to change quickly.”
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“What the pandemic did do was cause factories to shut down, usually because there weren\u2019t enough workers, and that created shortages of products and components. Those shortages led to bottlenecks and delays in product manufacturing (if factories don\u2019t have the parts to build something, it doesn\u2019t get made and doesn\u2019t get shipped).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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As more shortages lead to more bottlenecks, the disruption causes problems in other parts of the supply chain, creating even more shortages, new delays, and higher prices. For example, automotive manufacturers haven\u2019t been able to make cars and trucks, because they\u00a0can\u2019t get their hands on<\/a>\u00a0enough computer chips. Ikea can\u2019t\u00a0ship furniture parts<\/a>\u00a0from its warehouses to its stores thanks to the trucker shortage. A\u00a0supply crunch for petrochemicals<\/a>\u00a0has driven up the cost of making anything that includes plastic,\u00a0including children\u2019s toys<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“US companies have been moving more and more manufacturing abroad for decades, which means a growing amount of the stuff American consumers want to buy needs to be imported. Meanwhile, worsening conditions for truck drivers in the US have made the job incredibly unpopular in recent years, even though the demand for drivers has gone up as e-commerce has become more popular. That means that as Americans relied more on online shopping during the pandemic, getting goods from ports to doorsteps has been challenging.”\u00a0 \u00a0
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“Covid-19 has also affected consumer demand \u2014 namely, which products they want to buy and how much \u2014 creating constant changes that the supply chain just hasn\u2019t been able to keep up with, especially lately.”
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“This\u00a0record number of imports<\/a>\u00a0is slowing down product deliveries. Cargo ships carrying holiday merchandise are waiting to unload their stock along the California coast, but there aren\u2019t enough port workers to do the job. Those delays mean there are fewer containers available for manufacturers trying to send more products to the US, which only sets the supply chain back even more.”\u00a0 \u00a0
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“Pushing the Port of Los Angeles to operate 24\/7 is Biden\u2019s most direct action to date, and it\u2019s supposed to ensure that an additional 3,500 cargo ships are unloaded each week. The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach,\u00a0which expanded its operations last month<\/a>, are responsible for 40 percent of the containers brought into the US, so expanding their operations is supposed to speed up shipping nationwide,\u00a0the White House says<\/a>.”\u00a0\u00a0
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“it\u2019s not clear what Biden can do to fix the bottlenecks occurring higher up in the supply chain, like manufacturers running low on components and factories getting shut down abroad. While the White House has convened task forces to address these underlying problems, those efforts\u00a0probably won\u2019t bear fruit<\/a>\u00a0in time for the holidays.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the long run, it\u2019s possible that the US government can change policies that contributed to this situation in the first place. Politicians could shift their approach to trade, which has historically encouraged US companies to manufacture products abroad. Improving labor standards might boost working conditions for truckers and factory workers to make those jobs more appealing \u2014 boost global vaccine manufacturing and ensure that workers in other countries are safer from Covid-19 outbreaks. Admitting more people into the US could address a shortage of delivery and port workers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n