Buttigieg says supply chain issues could last as long as pandemic continues

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday said ongoing supply chain issues could last as long as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Speaking to "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, Buttigieg upheld the budget reconciliation bill, a key piece of legislation for the Biden administration, as one of the most effective methods of combating inflation and supply chain issues. However, he acknowledged that these issues could persist as long as the pandemic continues to rage on.

"Look, there are so many things that are still happening in our economy — distortions, disruptions, things in our supply chain that are affecting prices that are clearly a direct consequence of the pandemic. Which is why the best thing we can do for our economy in the short term, and to deal with these transitory issues is to put the pandemic behind us," said Buttigieg.

Wallace noted that operations at the Port of Los Angeles, which the Biden administration recently announced would move to 24/7 operations to deal with supply chain issues, has experienced an increase in waiting containers and unused appointments for truckers.

"Yeah, there are definitely going to continue to be issues especially as long as the pandemic continues," Buttigieg said, pointing to a major port in China that was shut down late this summer due to the pandemic.

"You'll feel that in the fall here on the West Coast," said Buttigieg. He pointed to the "phenomenal work" that port officials and workers have done to combat shipping issues, but stressed that "we are talking about global imbalances between demand, which is off the charts right now."

"For the very short term, there are steps we can take in [and] around the ports that we think are helping. In the medium term, again at risk of repeating myself, if we really want to see all of these disruptions in we got to end the pandemic. That's what getting everybody vaccinated is all about," he added.

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