Pete Buttigieg, Transportation Secretary, recently reiterated that the United States must end the COVID-19 pandemic in order to address supply chain problems. The transportation secretary repeated that comment and said that that is why the White House is pushing its vaccination campaign.
When asked about the Biden administration’s plans to address the problem, Buttigieg replied that he breaks it into three parts. He said that they first need to address the pandemic, as it is largely what is driving the epidemic. He said they need to have vaccination campaigns and all the other things.
Buttigieg said that the second part of his plan is immediate actions, such as the one in President’s Port Action Plan. He said they are seeing ships go around picking up empty containers that are blocking the way, adding that there are creative ideas to move containers from areas that might be blocking the route for ships to unload.


Buttigieg points out that there are fines and fees for shippers who leave their containers out, which makes it more difficult and creates problems. He said they can then see the long-term picture and that the bipartisan infrastructure deal, which was passed by Congress, is a huge deal. He said they need to invest heavily in American ports and infrastructure and work to achieve both the immediate and long-term.
