President Joe Biden began his visit to the Port of Baltimore by claiming that people at all educational levels are confused about what the term “supply chain” means.
Biden then offered his own definition during what was billed as the first stop on his publicity tour to tout the recent passage of his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“You hear a lot about the supply chain in the news, but frankly, not a lot of people have a clear understanding, whether they have a Ph.D. or they didn’t go to school, about how a supply chain works,” he told the crowd. “Supply chains are incredibly complex. As long as goods and materials are getting where they need to go on time, there’s usually no need to worry about the supply chains. But, well, disruptions hit — like a pandemic.”
BIDEN POURING BILLIONS INTO SUPPLY CHAIN UPGRADES FOR PORTS AND WATERWAYS
Biden has made this claim about the complexity of supply chains before. Empty shipping containers, busy ports, and COVID-19 protocols on the West Coast have kept goods unavailable or slow to arrive.
The president went on to discuss how the bill, which he has not yet signed into law, includes long-term investments aiming to address supply chain deficiencies.
He also cited Tuesday’s designation of $8 million to upgrade the Port of Savannah, the country’s third-largest port behind Los Angeles and Long Beach, and billions more for future upgrades at ports across the country.
“COVID-19 has stretched global supply chains like never before, and suddenly, when you go to order a pair of sneakers or a bicycle or Christmas presents for the family, you’re met with higher prices and long delays or they said [they] just don’t have any at all,” the president said. “The reason for that last year has a lot to do with how they make your products today. In simple terms, supply chain is just the time a product takes to get to your doorstep. Raw materials plus labor, assembly, shipping — everything it takes to create the finished product. The supply chains are complex. Even products as simple as a pencil can have to use the wood from Brazil, graphite from India, before coming together at a factory in the United States.”
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You can watch Biden’s entire speech below.
