The National Retail Federation confirms the thesis of the World Shipping Council: it is the abnormal demand that causes problems for the maritime supply chain

The alarm of the World Shipping Council does not seem so much aroused from the formal order imposed by Joe Biden on the FMC to ensure that maritime carriers do not violate the rules by charging on customers charges not attributable to their actions or malfunctions, but rather for the wider repercussions on the containerized shipping industry that could have the Executive Order signed by Biden which has the specific purpose of promote competition in the American economy. The goal - has explained the president - is «to lower prices, raise wages and take a further step towards an economy that works for everyone. At the heart of capitalism - stressed Biden - there is a simple concept: open competition and loyal".' "Fair competition - he added - is the reason why capitalism was the biggest global strength for prosperity and growth". "Instead, what we have witnessed in recent decades - Biden continued, and it is probably from here that the words of the president have begun to alarm the WSC - it is less competition and more concentration that hold back our economy". "Instead of competing for the benefit of the consumers - noted the US president referring to whole business sectors – what they do is wear down the their competitors. Instead of competing for the benefit of the workers, they are finding ways to get the better of it at work. And too much often, to tell the truth, the government has made it harder to new companies enter the market and compete. Remembering to all to be "a proud capitalist", Biden has but clarified that "capitalism without competition does not it is capitalism, but exploitation. Without healthy competition - he pointed out - the big players can decide on changes and charge what they want and treat you as they want." Biden stressed that this is the "big problem." problem - he specified - that can become "an incredible opportunity: we can bring more competition back to more and more parts of the country, helping entrepreneurs and small businesses to get involved, helping workers to get a better deal, helping families save money money every month.

More concretely - explained Biden - the Executive Order "Commits the federal government to a more enforcee complete and decisive of our antitrust legislation. Nothing more tolerance for the illegal actions of monopolies. Nothing more bad mergers leading to mass layoffs, at higher prices elevated and with less choice for workers and consumers. All this in a number of industrial sectors mentioned by the President. " The european Economic And Social Group, economic and social financial services to the health sector, without neglecting at all what the World Shipping Council cares about: transportation maritime. And in the latter area what the Executive Order assigns to the federal agency Federal Maritime Commission, to unlike other segments of the industry, it is a task which inevitably goes beyond national borders because the one that is taken into account by the ordinance is 'the global containerised shipping industry which has consolidated into a small number of dominants foreign airline and alliances that can penalize the American exporters'.

If from the White House seems to pull an unfavorable wind for the World Shipping Council, from the same U.S. soil, however, comes also a breeze favorable to the navigation of the fleets of the associated with the WSC. And to call it a breeze is very reductive, given that a support, perhaps involuntary, in favor of the theses of the association of containerized shipping has come none other than the National Retail Federation (NRF), the powerful organization that in the USA represents the sector of commerce to the detail, an area that should be quite sensitive to Biden's recriminations against maritime carriers.

If Friday, responding to the little veiled accusations to careers the american president, the president of the WSC, John Butler, pointed out that the current distortions that characterize the maritime supply chain, which also have repercussions on the terrestrial one, they are due to the historical surge in demand of goods imported by American consumers, the The National Retail Federation has validated this thesis. The last NRF's monthly "Global Port Tracker" report confirms that imports through the main ports domestic containers continue to record double-digit growth Compared with last year, given that the considerable demand from the consumers continue to persist. «Year-on-year growth which we witnessed this spring - explained the deputy President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy of the National Retail Federation, Jonathan Gold - was unusual since the comparison was with a time when most of the shops they were closed due to the pandemic. However - gold pointed out - we are continuing to record strong growth even entering into a time when stores had reopened last year. That's a sign of exceptional consumer demand."

These words are cast gold for what the World Shipping Council has long argued, i.e. that carriers seafarers are doing what they can to increase capacity of its fleets and services in order to satisfy this question, but doing what you can does not mean being able to satisfy the impossible. Hence the current problems of the maritime supply chain that reverberate on the supply chain terrestrial: «for traders and the supply chain - has pointed out by jonathan gold - the challenge is it is the fact that it is possible to ensure the supply of the congestion of ports and other interruptions supply chain continue to have an impact on the industry and, in on the economy".

«The operational constraints caused by the Covid-19 pandemic combined with the increase in consumer demand - noted Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates, the company consulting that collaborates with the NRF in the drafting of the "Global Port Tracker" - they put a strain on the supply chain logistics. In the last year, the level of growth has been a Unprecedented pressure on importers, carriers and national hauliers'.

More and better John Butler would not have been able to say and argue. Who knows that the president of the World Shipping Council does not has already made a phone call thank you to Jonathan Gold and Ben Hackett.

Bruno Bellio