There is a traffic jam like no other, taking place on the high seas. Really the “low seas,” the ports, but you know what I mean. This is traffic jam of epic proportions the likes of which nobody have every seen before.
American is importing materials and goods from different parts of Asia at an astounding rate. Some of that cargo has even been re-routed to other ports throughout the USA.
Bottom Line: Nobody can figure it out. And these past several weeks have released deep flaws in America’s supply chain. What began as shopping at home for convenience during the pandemic has resulted in lasting repercussions. Online stores anticipate lots of items to be out of stock. Brick-and-mortar Retailers depending on crucial supply chains warn these holidays will have some empty shelves and higher prices.
So How Do We Fix The Problem?
Investment and Infrastructure
The tankers are backed up in the ports, customs, etc.. The truckers blame the terminals, and those terminals blame the shippers for not staffing enough. The retailers blame the truckers and/or the shippers. Talk about a vicious cycle!
Again, the bottom line is that there is no quick fix. The fact is that in Europe an Asia, the ports in Rotterdam and in Hong Kong are far more technologically advanced than the ones we have in the USA
Here’s the thing: In America, ports are owned by the cities that they’re in. And it takes BIG money to build modern terminals for unloading big boats, and to do some big time dredge work as well.
Investment decisions, even of this massive scale, are made at a local level… If you’ve ever dealt with local politics, I do not need to say anything else. It can be rough.
Before exploring this idea in-depth, I wanted to get at the root of this issue that’s crept its way into our lives. Sea ports and terminals is a national infrastructure, they are meant to serve the entire country. So why are decisions left to local-level governments? When it comes to something as important as this, there’s a real role for federal government to fill
Yes, The Supply Chain Issues Are Transitory
Don’t get me wrong, Prepper Base is all about prepping and survivalism, living off-grid, the kind of thing that gets us ready for a SHTF situation where society much just stop working. But the supply chain issues are not the catalyst for a SHTF situation. It’s a darn good idea to keep stocking up and filling your coffers with supplies, but don’t feel like you need to grab your bug out bag just yet.
According to the White House itself, supply-chain disruptions definitely significant and widespread. That being said, the issues won’t last very long in the USA. Supply chains have adjusted to disruptions in the past, and we will get through it again.
It current Administration says that it wants to reverse policies that have prioritized low costs over security, sustainability and resilience. That’s how we got cheap manufacturing in the first place, so we will see what happens there.
But- these policies ignored the costs of being unprepared for risk, the United States has ended up with easily-disrupted supply chains that are risky and expensive in a catastrophe.
Since a lack of semiconductors hit nearly every industry especially hard. In particular, the current Administration recommends that Congress support at least $50 billion in investment to advance domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research.
It would be a great thing to have a semiconductor in your smartphone or laptop that was proudly Made in The USA.
