WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — The U.S. will keep major West Coast ports open around the clock to handle a long-running backlog of imports from China and elsewhere in Asia that is preventing many goods from reaching American store shelves, President Joe Biden said Wednesday.
“Today we have some good news,” he said. “We’re going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America.”
Biden also announced commitments from major companies and freight movers including Walmart, UPS and FedEx — which he said account for up to 40% of the packages in the U.S. — to increase the amount of goods moved at night and during off-peak hours. The news came after a virtual roundtable with California authorities, labor unions, retail giants and logistics companies.
The expanded capacity is meant to address growing concerns about shortages contributing to the persistent inflation of recent months. The trend has dampened consumer confidence in an economy still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and weighed on the Biden administration’s poll numbers…
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