As Biden tore into shipping conglomerates at the White House Thursday while signing legislation he announced would improve inflation, at least on the margins.
He ripped the industry of consolidated foreign-flagged vessels a day after tearing into oil companies and again laid much of the blame for inflation at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s feet.
Though he started his comments at the White House with words of condolence for one of the people there, the head of Ohio-based specialty retailer Jo-Ann Stores. The company is still coping with the news from Wednesday that its chief financial officer, Matt Susz, died suddenly.
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“And by the way, my sympathies to your family of your CFO, who dropped dead very unexpectedly,” announced Biden, who is known to comfort people like himself who have lost loved ones and has flown to numerous funerals even as President.
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“My best to their family. It’s tough stuff,” Biden announced.
He made the comments at an event where he blamed shipping companies for “sticking it to American families and businesses.” He denounced them for price hikes that “hurt American families" and stated an industry controlled by nine prominent companies enjoyed $190 billion in profits in 2021 amid supply chain disruptions.
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He signed legislation Thursday meant to make shipping goods across oceans cheaper - a move the White House states will assist in lower retailer costs that have remained high since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic and helped fuel record inflation.
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Biden joked regarding the overwhelming vote for it in the House and the bill facing no objection in the Senate. “I hardly remember those days. I served there for 36 years,” he announced, to chuckles.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act passed unanimously by the Senate via voice vote in March after winning bipartisan House approval. It empowers the Federal Maritime Commission to investigate late fees charged by carriers while prohibiting ocean carriers and marine terminals from refusing to fill available cargo space.
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The President emphasized that a concentration of corporate shipping power in the hands of only nine large and foreign-owned companies has fed higher shipping costs in ways that hurt businesses and exacerbate problems with inflation.
“These carriers made $190 billion in profit in 2021, seven times higher than the year before,” Biden stated. “The cost got passed on, as you might guess, directly to consumers, sticking it to American families and businesses because they could.”
He continued that the new law would “bring down prices to give American families a bit more breathing room.”
The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by three-quarters of a point, the largest bump since 1994 after data issued last week showed U.S. inflation increased in May to a four-decade high of 8.6%.
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