The White House recently announced that John D Porcari will be the Port Envoy to the US government’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, which was established in June to address supply and demand mismatches that emerged in several domestic sectors as the economy reawakened following the administration’s vaccination and economic relief efforts.
Porcari was deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the department of transportation in the US administration from 2009 to 2014. He was directly involved in overseeing port, inter-modal, maritime policy and maritime-related competitive grant programmes throughout the United States.The White House recently announced that John D Porcari will be the Port Envoy to the US government's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, which was established in June to address supply and demand mismatches that emerged in several domestic sectors as the economy reawakened following the administration's vaccination and economic relief efforts.#
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg leads the Task Force focus on ports and trucking issues. The Task Force’s leadership also includes agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack, who is responsible for food and agriculture, and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo, responsible for homebuilding and semiconductors.
Since the launch of the Task Force, secretary Buttigieg and the department of transportation have been engaged in extensive outreach and engagement with port stakeholders including virtual round table held in July with representatives of all aspects of the ports’ supply chain, said an official press release.
Envoy Porcari will work closely with secretary Buttigieg and his team at the department of transportation as well as the National Economic Council to address congestion at US ports.
Disruptions in global shipping and rapid shifts in demand have led the cost of shipping containers between China and the West Coast to grow by more than 90 per cent compared to 2019.
This congestion is being felt particularly acutely at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together handle the largest share of containerised cargo moving through US ports.
The US administration has also negotiated a $17-billion in investments in port infrastructure as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. The funding would help address congestion and supply chains over time by investing in repair and maintenance backlogs and reduce congestion and emissions near ports.
National Retail Federation (NRF) senior vice president of government relations David French said NRF is encouraged by the administration’s action on this critical issue. In June, NRF had submitted a letter to President Joe Biden outlining the numerous supply chain challenges retailers have faced throughout the pandemic and potential solutions to address current and future disruptions.
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