The Biden administration announced plans to alleviate the supply chain problems the country has faced in the past few months due to the pandemic.
This move was made after the House of Representatives passed the President’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill as part of this two-pronged economic agenda. The bill is expected to be signed into law in the next few days.
White House calls new action “It will increase the flexibility of federal funding for ports; speed up the award of port infrastructure funding; announce new coastal shipping, inland waterway and land entry ports construction projects; and launch the first round of expanded port infrastructure funded by the bipartisan infrastructure agreement Facility grants.”
Senior government officials said that in the next 60 days, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin construction of $4 billion worth of projects in coastal ports, inland waterways, and other facilities that meet the requirements of the Army. According to government officials, the plan will also spend $3.4 billion to upgrade inspection facilities to improve trade across the northern and southern borders.
The bill is the largest single investment in U.S. history because it will allocate $17 billion to improve coastal and inland ports, waterways, and border ports of entry. Another 110 billion US dollars will be allocated to roads, traffic and bridges.
Biden discussed how the pandemic has caused bottlenecks that cause delays in the transportation of furniture, electronics, and automobiles. “Ending the pandemic is the ultimate key to undoing the destruction we are all dealing with. However, we must now act with our partners in the private sector to reduce the backlog we face,” Biden said.
