The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) has written to President Joseph Biden urging hm to take action in respect of the ongoing shipping crisis that is disrupting America’s economic recovery.

Backups at American ports continue to disrupt supply chains, the Washington DC-based organisation reports, while additional disruptions such as the lack of shipping containers, skyrocketing shipping prices, and a long-term trucker shortage have amplified the impact.

Our industry is experiencing whopping increases in freight costs and historic shipping delays

The AAFA has requested that the Biden Administration take two immediate steps to ease the crisis:

-Bring together key stakeholders – including carriers, port authorities, terminal operators, truckers, shippers, rail operators etc. – to negotiate solutions to the crisis and make sure all logistics rules and regulations are being effectively enforced.

-Offset spiralling costs by immediately removing the biggest single cost on the industry – tariffs – including the removal of punitive tariffs on imports from China and renewing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB).

“Our industry is experiencing whopping increases in freight costs and historic shipping delays, which are already affecting the critically important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons,” said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the AAFA. “We need to see action by the administration to investigate and end these pricing practices and direct relief to an industry that employs millions of Americans. Left unchecked, this crisis will continue to fuel inflation for consumers, limit our ability to supply and stock the goods that Americans want, and hobble our members’ ability – particularly small businesses – to keep Americans employed.”

The letter was sent to the Biden administration and Congress as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee planned to hold a hearing on June 15th regarding the impacts of shipping container shortages, delays, and increased demand on the North American supply chain.”

www.aafaglobal.org