Biden says government averted US holiday supply chain 'crisis'

'Gifts are being delivered,' US president says after administration worked with shipping companies

US President Joe Biden meets the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force and private sector leaders at the White House. Reuters

US President Joe Biden argued on Wednesday that by working with shipping firms and unions, his administration helped prevent a shortage of gifts for the holidays.

Reeling from a fresh political wound — that his signature social spending and climate bill was potentially dead in the water — the US leader also touted the economic recovery and falling energy prices.

“We heard a lot of dire warnings about supply chain problems leading to a crisis around the holidays,” Mr Biden said.

But after working with business and labour leaders to solve problems, “the much predicted crisis didn't occur”, he said during a meeting with his supply chain task force.

“Packages are moving. Gifts are being delivered. Shelves are not empty.”

Global shipping snags and labour shortages have contributed to trouble finding goods and a wave of price increases in which consumer inflation rose too its highest levels in nearly four decades — leading to a large dip in Mr Biden's approval rating.

The Biden administration moved in October to alleviate the biggest bottlenecks at the ports and made fighting inflation a priority.

Earlier this year, the Port of Los Angeles became the Western Hemisphere's first to process 10 million container units in a year. Holly Aguirre / The National

The Port of Los Angeles is one of the world's busiest and shipments are up 30 per cent since the pandemic. Photo: Sven Kamm

Most of the container ships entering the Port of Los Angeles are carrying 14,000 containers ready to be unloaded. Holly Aguirre / The National

Last week, more than 78 cargo ships sat waiting for a berthing spot. Photo: Sven Kamm

Commercial drivers are now working around the clock in an effort to clear the backlog at the Port of Los Angeles. Photo: Sven Kamm

This year, the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, received more shipping containers since its foundation more than 100 years ago. Holly Aguirre / The National

Major ports moved to 24-hour service and the administration imposed a fee on shippers with cargo sitting on docks for more than eight days.

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — which handle 40 per cent of the nation's containerised imports — moved 15 per cent more containers between January and November this year than 2018, the previous record, and slashed the number of containers languishing on the docks, the White House reported.

“Right now, the number of containers moving through our ports is higher than ever,” Mr Biden said.

White House initiatives also focused on improving rail links and the trucking industry, moving to train more drivers and bring goods from ports to stores more quickly.

“We also need to build resilience in our supply chains. We can never again be left vulnerable the way we were in the early days of Covid-19,” Mr Biden said.

Despite limited tools to directly address inflation, the president took credit for falling petrol prices after releasing supply from the government's oil reserve last month.

He said that prices in 21 states are now at their pre-pandemic averages over the past two decades.

“That's good news for Americans hitting the road this week.”

Japan, South Korea, India and Britain also released oil reserves to help ease supply pressures.

US national average prices for petrol at the pump, which have fallen for six straight weeks, fell to $3.30 a gallon last week, 11 cents below the average a month before.