: ‘The much-predicted crisis didn’t occur,’ Biden says about pre-holidays supply-chain problems

(*_ President Joe Biden gave a positive assessment of supply-chain concerns with only days before Christmas. He stated that gifts are being delivered and that store shelves are stocked.

The much-predicted crises didn’t happen,” Biden stated as he addressed a meeting of his supply-chain task force. He said that “packages are moving” and praised his administration’s actions, which he claimed were taken amid warnings of a “crisis around holidays”.

The White House has taken steps, including pushing ports to speed container handling. Additionally, the president met with retailers such as Walmart WMT, +0. 10% and Best Buy BBY, -0. 25%, getting assurances that supply-chain problems are easing.

Read: Biden holds Cyber Monday meeting with retail CEOs to discuss inflation, supply chains

While he touted progress, Biden did not declare supply-chain problems fully resolved — a view echoed by one of the meeting’s participants, FedEx FDX, -0. 43% Chief Executive Fred Smith.

Smith said that supply chain problems are still not solved. Smith said that although supply chain issues are not all solved, there is still a lot of work being done.

Both businesses and consumers remain concerned about the future of supply-chain. Nine of 10 retailers anticipate revenue will continue to be impacted by supply-chain issues for at least the next six months, according to a survey conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of Coupa Software Inc. COUP, -2.95%.

See: Supply-chain issues to bedevil retailers through 2022, according to survey

Also read: Is Fido finicky? Pet food gets hit by supply-chain disruptions

Biden’s latest meeting came as he and his administration are grappling with the omicron variant of COVID-19, which is threatening to disrupt stressed supply chains further. The president announced a number of new measures to combat the pandemic on Tuesday. These included free COVID testing.

Now read: “This is a crucial moment,” Biden said, while rolling out free at-home COVID testing

Republicans are eyeing next year’s midterm elections and have criticized Biden and his fellow Democrats for historically high inflation rates and supply-chain problems. On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee sent out a New York Times article describing why Christmas gifts arrive on time. The DNC also titled its email message “Poof Goes Another Republican Talking Point”
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