Supply disruptions and shortages: Americans may be left without gifts for Christmas

Christmas without gifts. Deficit and rising prices came to America, reports Radio Liberty

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The American economy is facing a global supply crisis. Supply mechanisms are broken. Joe Biden's administration is making urgent efforts to negotiate overtime with transport companies and labor unions.

There are proposals to declare a state of emergency in the country and send the armed forces to the delivery of goods.

For several months, Americans have seen a significant increase in the prices of FMCG products, and more recently, they have been posting photos and videos of empty store shelves on social networks.

I haven't been to #Walmart since March as Redner's is MUCH CLEANER, FULLY Stocked etc. The Taylor Walmart sucks !! STAY AWAY at all costs. #Nofood Really fell apart. ??? pic.twitter.com/vfFWO5boAH

-Weather Bob?? (@weatherbob) October 6, 2021

It didn't need to look this way. Despite being #warned months ago #JoeBiden only put a team in place in June & what have they accomplished thus far This is the result…#EmptyShelvesJoe #emptyshelvesbiden #EmptyShelvesJoeBiden #LetsGoBrandon #emptyshelves pic.twitter.com/rUfrXviMXJ

- Sn00pster (@ sn00pdad) October 14, 2021

This is partly to blame for the pandemic, which halted production.

This situation escalated into a system crash. When factories in China started working again, it turned out that the goods had nowhere to go and could not be delivered to their destination. In American seaports, containers were unloaded, but the recipient did not pick them up, and the Chinese manufacturer, not receiving empty containers, could not ship new goods. The cost of shipping has tripled.

The final consumer pays, as always.

Prices have jumped on absolutely everything. During the year, gasoline rose in price by 42 percent, used cars - by 24,4 percent, televisions - by 12,7 percent, furniture - by 11,2 percent, meat, fish, poultry and eggs - by 10,5 percent. Americans can be left at Christmas without gifts and Christmas tree decorations: they ordered and paid for the product, but there is no guarantee that they will receive it on time.

Transport Minister Pete Buttigijj recently made a frivolous comment in a TV interview:

“I think there are always two types of Christmas gift buyers. Some people buy everything they need for Halloween. Others, like me, come to their senses on the eve of Christmas. If you belong to the second category, it will certainly be difficult for you.”

This statement has caused anger in the ranks of the Republicans. Senator Tom Cotton replied to the Minister:

“The White House says you may not be able to buy everything you want for Christmas. And who is going to help Americans out on Christmas? Pete Buttigieg? Come on! Pete Buttigieg is not capable of organizing a funeral procession from one car. He will not be able to operate the seaports, railroads, highways and airports of the United States."

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Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli proposed a radical solution:

“From conversations with my colleagues in both the public and private sectors, I learned that many of them feel increasingly frustrated by their own powerlessness. We continue to report an increase in the number of ships. We talk about gasoline shortages all the time. We talk about supply chain problems. We have one of the best military machines in the world. These are men and women who have the ability to transport goods. I'm not a lawyer and I'm certainly not a politician, but it seems to me that if we declared something like a national emergency, we would solve the problem with the help of the military.

It's not a solution to tell people, "Buy your Christmas gifts early." This does not solve the problem of recommending that people buy a freezer and stock up on meat and poultry for future use. We no longer beg for oil from others because we have achieved energy independence. It just defies common sense."

President Joe Biden addressed the supply crisis in his address to the nation:

“With the holidays approaching, you're probably wondering whether the gifts you're planning to buy will get here on time. Let me explain. Supply chains are essentially how we make goods and how raw materials and components are delivered to factories so that they can be turned into products, manufactured here. How we transport goods, how the finished product gets from the factory to the store, and from there to your home. And today we have an important announcement: we will make sure the products you buy get to you and on store shelves faster.”

The news is that now the two largest seaports in the United States, Los Angeles and Long Beach, both in California, will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, XNUMX hours a day.

The largest retailers of America became participants in the agreement reached on the initiative of the White House - they pledged to pick up and receive goods in the same mode. The agreement was also supported by unions of truck drivers, longshoremen, warehouse workers and railroad workers.

White House spokesman Jen Psaki, however, did not reassure consumers:

“Look, I can't promise you that we'll solve all the problems tomorrow and next week. We won't decide. We are emerging from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. But we are using every tool at our disposal to mitigate its impact on the American people as we all look forward to the holidays, but of course, beyond.

- Should Americans prepare for what gets worse before it gets better?

– I'm not going to make predictions here. We know there are a number of issues that impact the supply chain. I don’t want to make predictions because this is not one problem.”

In any case, the government's measures are only temporary. Joe Biden is convinced that in the long term, America should return production to the country:

“We need to invest in producing more of our products right here in the United States. Never again should our country and our economy be in a position where they cannot produce critically needed products because we do not have access to the materials to make them. Never again should we rely too heavily on one company, one country or one person in the world, especially if those countries do not share our values ​​on working conditions and the environment. We are competing for the 21st century. We are America. We still have the best performers and most innovative minds in the world, but the rest of the world is catching up and we risk losing our edge if we don't step up. To be globally competitive, we must increase our ability to make goods here in America and ship them across the country and around the world.”

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The implementation of this task, according to the president, will be facilitated by his plan for the modernization of infrastructure - not yet adopted by Congress.

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