Biden enlists Target, Walmart to fix bottlenecks threatening holiday sales

(Reuters) President Joe Biden yesterday urged the private sector to help ease supply chain blockages that are threatening to disrupt the U.S. holiday season and said the White House plans a nationwide overhaul of the clogged system.

Biden said the Port of Los Angeles would join the Port of Long Beach, two of the country's busiest, in expanding round-the-clock operations to unload an estimated 500,000 containers waiting on cargo ships offshore. Walmart, Target and other big retailers would also expand their overnight operations at the ports to try to meet delivery needs, Biden said. It is a "big first step" to revamping supply chains in the United States, the world's biggest consumer market, Biden said, adding the government would be heavily involved.

"If federal support is needed, I'll direct all appropriate action, and if the private sector doesn’t step up, we’re going to call them out and ask them to act,” the president said in remarks at the White House.

The broader goal, he said, is to address long-standing weaknesses in the U.S. supply chain.

The stop-and-start nature of the pandemic has snarled global supply chains that are optimized for just-intime movements of goods.

The supply crisis is driven in part by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as sales of durable goods jumped amid worker shortages and transportation hub slowdowns https://www.reuters.com/business/au tos-transportation/containergeddonsupply-crisis-drives-walmart-rivalshire-their-own-ships-2021-10-07. A shortage of warehouse workers and truck drivers to pick up goods is partly to blame.