Biden administration announces action plan to help ease US supply chain constraints

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The administration of US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a short-term action plan aimed at easing supply chain constraints that have created headwinds for business and industry.

Supply chains are under tremendous strain amid strong demand created when economies reopened from lockdowns during the pandemic.

And while most think the current state of supply chain stress is unlikely to change until 2022, the administration’s plan is aimed at helping stem the tide before funds from the bipartisan infrastructure legislation become available.

“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a set of concrete steps to accelerate investment in our ports, waterways and freight networks,” the White House said in a statement. “These goals and timelines will mobilise federal agencies and lay the foundation for successful implementation of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.”

The plan will increase the flexibility for port grants, accelerate port infrastructure grant awards, and announce new construction projects for coastal navigation, inland waterways and land ports of entry.

It will also launch the first round of expanded port infrastructure grants funded through the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Actions will include:

• The US Department of Transportation (DOT) will allow port authorities to redirect savings from other projects to current supply chain challenges.
• Alleviate congestion at the Port of Savannah by funding a project for pop-up container yards. This will allow the Georgia Port Authority to reallocate more than $8m to convert existing inland facilities into five pop-up container yards in both Georgia and North Carolina.
• Launch programs to modernies ports and marine highways with more than $240m in grant funding within the next 45 days.
• Identify within the next 60 days construction projects that the US Army Corps of Engineers could undertake. These projects would be funded with $4bn.
• Prioritise key ports of entry for modernisation and expansion within the next 90 days. This will allow the identification of $3.4bn in investments to upgrade obsolete inspection facilities and allow more efficient international trade through the northern and southern borders.
• Open competition for the first round of port infrastructure grants funded through the infrastructure deal within 90 days. DOT will announce more than $475m in additional funding for port and marine highway infrastructure.

The action plan also calls for improved efforts at data sharing to support supply chains.

Currently, supply chains are almost entirely privately operated and span shipping lines, terminal operators, railroads, trucking companies, warehouses and beneficial cargo owners, which are importers who take control of the cargo at the destination using its own logistics assets as opposed to using a third-party source such as a freight forwarder.

The lack of data exchanged between each of the actors causes delays and inefficiencies.

The Biden plan calls for new data standards for moving goods.

DOT will work with the Federal Maritime Commission to publish a request for information on standardised data exchange requirements for goods movement in the transportation supply chain, according to the plan.