In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supply-side-trumponomics-part-one-drill-baby-drill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous article</a>, we looked at three policy areas ripe for large “positive supply shocks” and a rapid return of the U.S. economy to a high-growth, low-inflation situation: Energy production, tax cuts, and regulations.
First, Americans could see a significant reduction in energy costs under Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” plan designed to unleash American “energy dominance.” Next, we turn to phase two of Trump’s supply-side suite, the tried-and-true tool of widespread tax reductions.
<h3>Tax Cuts</h3>
To frame our discussion of supply-side tax cuts, let’s briefly review the “determinants of supply” — factors that can shift a product’s supply curve, summarized by the acronym TTEP#: Technology, Taxes, Expectations, Price of resources, # of producers.
The area where government can have a large and sudden impact should be screamingly obvious: taxes.
Yes, taxes are needed to fund essential government services. But economists recognize that taxes are costs. Higher sales taxes raise the cost of goods; higher income taxes raise the cost of earning a living; higher corporate taxes raise the cost of running a business. Obviously, reducing taxes on work and production (business and individual income taxes) will reduce the overall cost of producing goods, stimulating more work and production, and thus shifting supply curves to the right. Donald Trump understands this intuitively, which is why one of his signature agenda items in his first term was a large tax cut, particularly focused on business (corporate) taxation, via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). 
Supply-side tax cuts have been tried and found amazingly successful on multiple occasions in U.S. history. Large income tax cuts in the 1920s (Mellon-Coolidge), 1960s (Kennedy-Johnson), 1980s (Reagan), and 2017 (Trump) led to corresponding economic booms and strong growth in personal income, output, and employment. 
The history and impact of these (and more) tax reforms was chronicled by the Godfather of modern supply-side economics, Arthur Laffer, with coauthors Brian Domitrovic and Jeanne Sinquefield, in their recent book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Taxes-Have-Consequences-Income-History/dp/1637585640/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XSDHO3Q0YH3P&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xu1XlM3jlOoD2hFrXGGZsA3AvTa81rKTZSeSwxTAc78SSYDcfj6Ce9LxRj8n7EbZDZ_ctwl3a4LOsayoPTsZz-DDK0xfkzSC-gVSLI6bJjYu1MUbZ0XSB1n3bXWIWKhn_L8hfc5x8rVboLmw2No0q89DoNqtN6Guk8NYmD5QJxdqDC6kGJmZkp-4oXjSEI-97PCv-bx--zTm5Ou3-ohksxmSaAzss6XInp315Q90hHQ.5ulo-v-Uewzzer1g7Nl3TGRiiyUVgo-iZVpy8pKxGJw&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=taxes+have+consequences&amp;qid=1731166728&amp;sprefix=taxes+have+conseq%2Caps%2C1723&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taxes Have Consequences</a>.&#8221; As I noted <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11138-023-00613-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elsewhere</a>, the authors document no less than five distinct episodes of significant tax cutting, from Mellon’s aggressive 1920s rate cuts, to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Art Laffer himself promoted as an advisor to the Trump Administration. Each tax cut generated an economic boom with above-trend GDP growth and (eventual) increases in federal income tax revenue. &#8220;Taxes Have Consequences&#8221; is a fact-based, unassailable chronicle of the power of tax rate reductions and tax code simplifications to supercharge economic growth. 
Trump’s tax agenda for 2025 has two big parts and several smaller ones. The TCJA cuts are scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025, so the priority will be making them permanent. The other big tax change Trump proposed on the campaign trail is a further significant reduction of the corporate income tax, from 21% down to a world-beating 15%, contingent on corporations promising to onshore production. Other measures of note include allowing 100% deduction of most business investment spending, and eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security benefits. 
Skeptics and doubters will, of course, bristle at further tax cuts. Leftists will whine about “tax cuts for the rich” and pooh-pooh their favorite bogeyman of “trickle down economics.” Even some wimpy conservatives will argue that most of the tax cut juice was already squeezed out in Trump’s first-term reforms, and that further tax cuts risk significant increases in the federal deficit and debt. Trump knows from experience, however, that tax cuts are still a powerful tool. After all, the top income tax rate right now is still 37%; Reagan’s reforms got us down to a top rate of just 28% by 1988, so there’s still room to cut. 
As a world-class businessman, Trump knows that pushing that corporate rate down even lower can turbocharge business formation and capital spending, the underlying factors driving growth in productivity, jobs, and wages. When Trump first entered office in 2017, the U.S. corporate income tax was among the highest in the world at 31%. Even with the TCJA reduction to 21%, the U.S. still taxes corporate profits at a higher rate than most European countries. There’s much more room to trim these taxes and improve America’s business climate.
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As for the revenue &amp; deficit impact: as Art Laffer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCk2-QVqCck&amp;pp=ygUQdGhlIGxhZmZlciBjdXJ2ZQ%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reminds us</a>, tax cuts have the potential to boost government revenue, as the “incentive to work/ earn more” effect can swamp the “government gets a smaller slice of my paycheck” effect. 
Trump has also made statements about possibly <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/26/trump-joe-rogan-election-tariffs-income-tax-replace.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offsetting income tax revenues</a> with new tariffs, which is causing heartburn for some hardcore free-trade, libertarian economists. While I’m not a big fan of “protectionist” tariffs, I think it’s smart to view Trump’s threat of tariffs as both a hardball negotiating tactic and part of a bigger vision of pro-growth tax reform. Indeed, Trump has even made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-policy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent statements</a> about eliminating the income tax altogether and replacing it with a pre-1913-style revenue tariff. Any free market economist worth his salt should see such a move as the biggest positive supply shock in world history. Income taxes are one of the most costly and economically distorting ways to raise revenue. Leftists pushing high tax rates have been open about using the income tax regime mainly as a <a href="https://youtu.be/gJimLZRC9N8?si=hshc1uPf457qzUUC">tool of social engineering and redistribution</a>, efficiency and incentives be damned. Reductions in compliance costs alone would justify swapping the income tax for tariffs. 
This kind of radical reform is far off, but Trump’s overall instincts are good here. Keep trimming away at taxes on the work and investment incomes of Americans, and reap the benefits of boosting incentives for production and capital formation. He did it before with 2017’s TCJA, and through a renewed focus on strategic tax cuts, he make America’s economy boom again.
* * *
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supply-side-trumponomics-part-one-drill-baby-drill">RELATED: Supply-Side Trumponomics, Part One: ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’</a>
* * *
Tyler Watts is a professor of economics at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Donald Trump Speaks On The Economy In Tucson, Arizona

Supply-Side Trumponomics, Part Two: Tax Cuts

2024 Election

Corporations

Donald Trump

Economics

employment

Federal Government

Supply Chain

Tax Cuts

The day after Donald Trump was confirmed the winner of the 2024 presidential election, the U.S. stock market took off like one of Elon Musk’s rockets. Major stock indices posted gains for the day ranging from 2.5% (S&amp;P 500) to 6% (Russell 2000). The stock market is forward-looking, a mechanism for discounting expected future cash flows into present valuations of companies’ shares.
Clearly the market applauds the election results and is anticipating a return to strong growth and huge investment returns in the second Trump Administration.
Is the hype warranted, or is this just another Wall Street bout of irrational exuberance? Let’s take a look under the hood of the Trump economic program and assess what Trumponomics has in store for the U.S. economy in 2025 and beyond.
<h3>Supply-Side Economics </h3>
To appreciate Trump’s economic policy program, we need a basic understanding of supply-side economics. In turn, understanding supply-side economics requires a working knowledge of that essential tool of economic analysis, the supply and demand model.
As all first-year econ students know, market “equilibrium” occurs at the intersection of the demand and supply curves. Demand represents the quantity of any product consumers will buy at each possible price. Demand will slope down as consumers buy more of a product when its price declines.
The level of the demand curve will shift up or down based on a number of factors — changes in the number of consumers, shifts in buyers’ incomes, preferences, and expectations, or conditions surrounding related products. Demand for pickup trucks, for example, will shift upward after a prolonged drop in gas prices.
Supply, on the other hand, represents the cost of production for different quantities of any given product. Supply typically slopes up when more “factors of production” — workers, tools, equipment — are required to meet the demand. 
As the great economist Thomas Sowell continually <a href="https://ichthyoid.writeas.com/what-is-economics#:~:text=The%20definition%20of%20economics%20is,resources%20which%20have%20alternative%20uses." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reminds us</a>, “Economics is the study of scarce resources which have alternative uses.” To increase production of any one good means pulling resources away from the production of other valuable goods. In a market economy, these resources must be “bid up” in price to give their owners sufficient incentive to redeploy them to an alternative productive use. Hence the supply curve — a.k.a. the cost curve — slopes up for most products in the short run. The level of the supply curve is based primarily on factors that alter any business’ costs of production.
When it comes to “cost of production,” economists identify five categories: Technology, taxes, price of inputs, the number of producers and producers’ expectations. If changes in one or more of these factors lead to an increase in costs of production, the supply curve shifts “up and to the left,” and market forces will move the market to a new equilibrium with a higher price and lower quantity produced.
Likewise, if one or more of these factors changes in a way that reduces the costs of production, the supply curve shifts “down and to the right” and the market will move towards a new equilibrium featuring lower prices and larger quantities produced and purchased.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-838525 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-1.png" alt="" width="512" height="209" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-1.png 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-1-300x122.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></div>
Supply-side economics starts with the simple truth that economic growth and wealth creation ultimately stem from the supply side of markets — the economic situation facing producers of goods and services.
In other words, the recipe for economic growth is to push the supply curve to the right.
When the supply curve for any good or service shifts to the right, the cost of production is reduced, meaning businesses can produce at a lower cost. In a competitive marketplace, lower costs will soon be passed along to consumers in the form of lower prices. Shifting the supply curve to the right leads to a new equilibrium at a lower price and higher quantity of output. When prices fall and quantities rise, we all get richer.
Hence the mantra: the recipe for economic growth is to push supply curves to the right. 
Only by pushing supply curves to the right consistently over time can we increase the production (and thus consumption) of goods and services, improve our standard of living, and achieve economic prosperity. 
So what can government do to push supply curves to the right? Plenty. Donald Trump — the entrepreneur-turned politician — knows this well and is promising supply curve-shifting policies like never before.
Three policy areas in particular are ripe for large “positive supply shocks” and a rapid return of the U.S. economy to a high-growth, low-inflation situation: Energy production, Taxes, and Regulations. 
<h3>Energy Production</h3>
My personal favorite plank of Trump’s supply-side program is summarized in Trump’s refrain, “Drill, baby, drill.” Indeed, President-elect Trump knows that the economy runs on energy, he knows that reducing energy costs will benefit everyone in a direct and obvious way, and he knows that America is sitting on vast amounts of “liquid gold,” as he so charmingly refers to &#8220;America’s yuge oil reserves.&#8221; Trump further understands that government can help or hinder American energy through its stance on regulation, permitting, and taxation of energy production.
Trump has promised a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-commits-to-slashing-energy-prices-by-half">50% reduction in energy costs</a> for Americans by the end of his first year back in office. Elites in both parties probably laugh this off as mere Trumpian rhetorical hype, but it’s economically realistic and very doable.
Here’s why.
The demand for energy products like gasoline is “inelastic,” meaning the quantity people will buy is not very sensitive to changes in price. If the price of gasoline goes up, most of us will keep on buying gas because we have set patterns of commuting for work, school, and the like. We might be able to trim gas spending by cutting some non-essential trips, but it’s difficult to drastically alter consumption, at least in the near term. Consumers, therefore, have to eat the costs and feel the pain of high energy prices in the form of lower real incomes. On the flip side, if energy prices fall, consumers will not ramp up purchases all that much — they’ll mostly just enjoy the cost savings and expand their purchases of other nice things.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-838529 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-2.png" alt="" width="512" height="435" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-2.png 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-2-300x255.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />In the big picture, inelastic demand means that when we steadily increase oil and gas production, their prices can fall substantially. We saw this coming out of the recession of 2008, when the perfection of new methods of shale oil production — fracking and directional drilling — led to an explosion of U.S. production.
Oil prices were initially rising along with the economic recovery, but once the production boom set in and inventories expanded, prices eventually tumbled. Oil prices hovered around $100 in the early 2010s, and then collapsed during 2015, all the way down to the $50-$60 range.
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The post-Covid recovery saw another run-up in prices — partly based on demand recovery, but partly due to the overall inflation wrought by the terrible combination of <a href="https://aier.org/article/the-fed-is-responsible-for-great-inflations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loose monetary policy</a> and massively wasteful government spending via stimulus checks and the Inflation Reduction Act. Even with Biden’s unfriendly regulatory environment, U.S. production of crude oil recently hit an all-time high of 13.4 million barrels per day, and U.S. proved reserves of both oil and natural gas are also at all-time highs.
With Trump’s pro-energy policy mix, oil and gas production is likely to once again take off, with the potential to crush prices, as we saw in the early 1980s and again in the 2010-2015 era.
<div id="attachment_838533" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-838533" class="wp-image-838533 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-3.png" alt="Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/) " width="512" height="218" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-3.png 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-3-300x128.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data</div>
<div id="attachment_838535" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-838535" class="wp-image-838535 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-4.png" alt="Source: U.S. Energy Information Agency (https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/crudeoilreserves/)" width="512" height="261" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-4.png 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/Supply-4-300x153.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Source: U.S. Energy Information Agency</div>
With his cabinet nominations, Donald Trump has shown a serious commitment to “energy dominance.” As governor of the third largest oil and gas state, North Dakota’s Doug Burgum knows the industry well, and as the incoming Secretary of the Interior he will be in a position to greenlight drilling permits on over 500 million acres of federally-managed land — permits that Biden’s cronies either slow-walked or denied outright.
Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy, helped perfect the fracking techniques that vaulted America to the forefront of global energy production. As Energy Secretary, Wright can quickly undo Biden’s moves to hamstring U.S. exports of natural gas.
Lee Zeldin is a former GOP congressman from New York and a strong supporter of American oil and gas. As EPA Administrator, he will be able to mitigate regulations that stifle fossil fuel production and delivery.
Overall, Trump’s picks present a strong and united pro-fossil fuel front. The stage is truly set for an American energy renaissance, the largest piece of Trump’s supply-side economic package.
* * *
Tyler Watts is a professor of economics at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Donald Trump Campaigns In Iowa

Supply-Side Trumponomics, Part One: ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’

Supply-Side Trumponomics, Part One: 'Drill, Baby, Drill'

Energy

Oil and Gas

Thomas Sowell

It&#8217;s looking increasingly likely that dock workers on the East Coast will launch a massive strike Tuesday, shuttering 36 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts. If that happens, Americans could experience supply chain disruptions through election day and well into the holiday season.
About three quarters of banana imports to the U.S. arrive at ports that would be affected by a strike, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bananas-cars-clothes-us-port-labor-dispute-threatens-range-products-2024-09-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the chairman of Michigan State University&#8217;s department of supply chain management. Coffee and cocoa imports would also be affected, as would pharmaceutical imports — a third of which are routed through the port in Charleston, South Carolina.
Contract negotiations between port ownership and the International Longshoremen&#8217;s Association, which represents more than 85,000 dock workers, broke down over the summer, and the two sides remain in a stalemate over both wages and automating port operations. A strike of this size would cause wide-ranging supply chain issues that could impact consumers past Election Day and well into the holiday season.
The National Tree Company, which sells artificial Christmas trees and other decorations, has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/business/economy/port-strike-economy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rushed</a> to import goods early to beat the strike, but expects to see 15% of its goods stranded if a port strike happens.
A strike would delay some $32.8 billion in clothing imports, and just over $23 billion of furniture imports. In the year that ended June 30, about $37.8 billion in vehicle imports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bananas-cars-clothes-us-port-labor-dispute-threatens-range-products-2024-09-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> through the ports that would be shut down, according to S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence. Baltimore&#8217;s port sees the most car shipments of any port in the country.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/facts-ep-18-striking-workers">WATCH: Ben Shapiro Explains Why the Dockworkers Strike Could Impact You</a>
Peter Kopke, who has been importing fruit at his family&#8217;s company Kopke Fruit since 1958, warned that Americans would see prices &#8220;rise sharply&#8221; if the strike happens.
&#8220;Right now there&#8217;s million of boxes of citrus fruit as well as bananas and others that are going to be caught in the strike,&#8221; Kopke <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoTC5pbwFC0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Fox Business. &#8220;And if the strike lasts for any length of time, the fruit will deteriorate, and those business that employ thousands of employees will have to stop because they&#8217;re going to lose millions of dollars. So it&#8217;s a very, very serious thing, especially for perishables.
&#8220;This is something that is quite different since 50 or 60 years ago because now the international commerce is a tremendous part of our economy,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have 45,000 workers affecting 350 million people.&#8221;
The strike could also disrupt American exports, of beef, cotton, and poultry. About 70% of all poultry exports and more than a quarter of all egg exports leave via East and Gulf Coast ports, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bananas-cars-clothes-us-port-labor-dispute-threatens-range-products-2024-09-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to customs data and the USA Poultry &amp; Egg Export Council. Nearly half of all pork exports set to travel by ship, about 45%, and 30% of all beef exports were shipped out of the affected ports from January through July, a U.S. Meat Export Federation spokesperson <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bananas-cars-clothes-us-port-labor-dispute-threatens-range-products-2024-09-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Reuters.
Supply chain shortages could cause prices to rise just as families are trying to recover from the <a href="https://econofact.org/inflation-and-prices#:~:text=But%20inflation%20rose%20well%20above,measured%20using%20the%20CPI%2DU." target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly</a> 20% spike in prices since before the pandemic. Inflation is one of the most important issues to voters this presidential election, which has Vice President Kamala Harris locked in a tight race against former president Donald Trump less than six weeks out from Election Day.
About 76% of voters say inflation is a major factor in their choice for president, an August CBS poll <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-harris-inflation-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a>. Over half of voters favor Trump on the economy, compared with 46% who favor Harris, a Fox News poll <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/09/25/economy-election-harris-trump-polls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a>.
Harris has struggled to say how she would lower prices.
She has acknowledged that &#8220;the bills add up&#8221; and promised that &#8220;building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.&#8221; However, many of her proposals would require congressional approval, and the campaign has not offered many details about how to pay for expensive proposals like a free $25,000 down payment for first-time home buyers.

Shopping At Price Chopper In Vermont

From Coffee to Christmas Trees, Here’s What A Dock Workers Strike Would Disrupt

Here's Which Products Would Be Disrupted By A Dock Worker Strike Next Week

Biden Administration

Economy

Harris 2024

Kamala Harris

strike

Unions

A looming dock worker strike could throw the economy — and the presidential election — into chaos, an October surprise that would likely hurt Democrats.
The International Longshoremen&#8217;s Association, which represents <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/19/largest-port-on-east-coast-begins-preparations-for-a-strike.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.Message" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about</a> 85,000 dock workers nationwide, is threatening to strike on October 1 if the union cannot reach an agreement with port ownership. Negotiations broke down in June between the union and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents port management. The two sides are in a stalemate over both wages and the automation of port operations.
A strike would shut down five of North America&#8217;s 10 busiest ports, 36 ports total along the East and Gulf Coasts, and cause massive supply chain issues — which, depending on how long the strike lasts, could impact consumers past Election Day and well into the holiday season. If the supply chain is upended like this causing scarcities, we are also likely to see another nasty bout of inflation just as families are trying to recover from the <a href="https://econofact.org/inflation-and-prices#:~:text=But%20inflation%20rose%20well%20above,measured%20using%20the%20CPI%2DU." target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly</a> 20% spike in prices since before the pandemic.
The Biden administration has the power to stop strikes that could threaten national security or severely impact the economy. But the White House has said it will not intervene in a dock worker strike, and is encouraging the two sides to get back to the negotiating table.
The global economic turmoil wrought by a strike of this size cannot be overstated.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/facts-ep-18-striking-workers">WATCH: Ben Shapiro Explains Why the Dockworkers Strike Could Impact You</a>
The ports that would be affected move nearly half of all U.S. imports, and billions of dollars in trade each month. The ripple effects on supply chains in Europe, Asia, and Latin America would also be significant.
None of this is likely good for Democrats.
Election Day is only six weeks away, and Vice President Kamala Harris is locked in a nail-biter of a presidential race against former President Donald Trump. Harris is currently leading by <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two</a> points, a smaller lead than Hillary Clinton had in 2016 before losing to Trump. A strike would begin on October 1, the day of the vice presidential debate between Democrat Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance.
Even the threat of a strike is causing economic uncertainty at a time when the economy is not exactly Democrats&#8217; strongest issue. About 60% of Americans disapproved of President Biden&#8217;s handling of the economy in June. Harris is only just <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4890173-kamala-harris-donald-trump-economy-2024-survey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">starting</a> to catch up to Trump&#8217;s approval rating on the issue.
It&#8217;s unclear why Biden won&#8217;t intervene, though some have speculated that the president is unwilling to go out of his way to help Harris after Democrats ousted him from his reelection campaign over the summer. Others have wondered whether Biden is courting the dock worker union at a time when the union vote is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-first-democrat-in-decades-to-not-get-teamsters-endorsement-after-members-back-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not coming</a> easily to Democrats.
Last week, a group of House Republicans on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee <a href="https://transportation.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=407803" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> to President Biden urging his administration to do everything in its power to prevent a strike that could lead to “dire impacts to our supply chains, our economy, and the American consumer.”
Even a one-day strike could take a week to recover from, industry insiders say. A strike that lasts a week would take several weeks of catch-up work, and the effects of a strike that lasts several weeks would be felt well into 2025. Meanwhile, retailers would suffer shortages throughout the holiday shopping season, their busiest time.
Any work stoppage is still over a week away, but the effects of a potential strike are already being felt.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com//podcasts/morning-wire/port-strike-potential-u-n-convenes-amid-crises-9-23-24">LISTEN: How A Looming Dock Worker Strike Could Upend the Economy</a> 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
A potential dock worker strike threatens the global supply chain, early voting begins as Kamala Harris faces calls for more transparency, and world leaders meet in New York for the UN’s annual summit. Reporting from <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnsonHildy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JohnsonHildy</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/cabot_phillips?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cabot_phillips</a>, &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/timbpearce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@timbpearce</a>. <a href="https://t.co/dZtxct8Zl0">pic.twitter.com/dZtxct8Zl0</a>
— Morning Wire (@MorningWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorningWire/status/1838227018464243832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is ramping down operations to avoid containers piling up should dock workers strike. Ships coming in from far away are planning to delay their journeys to a potentially impacted port. Some ships have been on their way to these ports since mid-August and hope to unload before any strike. Cargo is also already being moved from the East to the West Coast in anticipation of a strike.
The last strike by the International Longshoremen&#8217;s Association happened in 1977, and lasted a whopping 44 days. Union president Harold Daggett was a union member during the first strike, and traveled to the West Coast with fellow members to picket the docks. They convinced the West Coast dock workers&#8217; union not to unload ships that were diverted there from the East Coast.

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Labor Unions

The U.S. Marine Corps is temporarily loosening uniform standards to deal with a camouflage shortage due to supply chain issues.
Commandant General Eric Smith made the announcement in an Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxwEQO4LJiu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>, saying service members will be able to substitute desert-colored uniforms for the usual woodland patterned ones, which are currently scarce thanks to a manufacturing shortage.
Smith said he recently returned from the Indo-Pacific region, where service members told him, &#8220;I can&#8217;t get cammies,&#8221; a nickname for the camouflage combat utility uniform.
&#8220;That problem is going to stay with us until the fall of 2024 when the manufacturer can fill the backlog that has been created after COVID. Until that time, local commanders, battalions and squadrons are authorized to use <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120916065851/http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/InfoPapers/Clothing/FROG.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FROG</a> [flame-resistant organizational gear] gear or desert cammies to mitigate,&#8221; Smith said.
&#8220;What we cannot have is a situation where a Marine is wearing unserviceable cammies, because that looks bad for the Corps, and we can’t have a situation where that Marine is being given a hard time about those unserviceable cammies. We’re going to get this fixed, Marines, but it’s going to take a little patience,&#8221; Smith added.
The relaxing of uniform standards does not mean that Marines can decide on their own to wear a different uniform, Major John Parry, a Marine spokesman, <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/09/29/marines-authorized-wear-desert-pattern-uniform-commanders-discretion-amid-cammie-shortage.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Marine Corps Times.
“This does not mean a Marine may make a decision unilaterally to wear a different uniform or civilian attire due to a serviceability issue with their designated uniform of the day,” Parry said.
“The guidance to battalion and squadron leaders and above is to make decisions that uphold the high standards of our service while maintaining mission readiness and reducing overall impact on daily operations,” the Marine spokesman said.
The &#8220;nonstandard&#8221; uniform items are a rare move for the branch, which prides itself on strict uniform standards, the Marine Corps Times <a href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/29/camouflage-uniform-shortage-prompts-marine-corps-to-soften-attire-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
The woodland patterned &#8220;cammies&#8221; <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/09/29/marines-authorized-wear-desert-pattern-uniform-commanders-discretion-amid-cammie-shortage.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are</a> typically the primary daily uniform for Marines. Recruits <a href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/29/camouflage-uniform-shortage-prompts-marine-corps-to-soften-attire-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are supposed</a> to receive three utility uniforms with the woodland pattern and two with the desert pattern.
Lately though, the Marine Corps has been giving recruits just two woodland sets and one desert set, the Marine spokesman said in August. Meanwhile, some recruits have been training in FROG gear, which is typically saved for deployments. Some Marines have <a href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/29/camouflage-uniform-shortage-prompts-marine-corps-to-soften-attire-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> resorted to patching up holes in their &#8220;cammies&#8221; with Marine-pattern bandanas or scraps of old uniforms.
Despite the pivot to desert-colored &#8220;cammies,&#8221; however, <a href="https://www.mynavyexchange.com/marpat-woodland-blouse-with-permethrin-/12840487" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both</a> <a href="https://www.mynavyexchange.com/marpat-desert-blouse-with-permethrin-/12840553" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appear</a> to be in short supply on the My Navy Exchange website.
&#8220;Unfortunately, we are experiencing supply delays on this item,&#8221; a message on the website reads for both products. &#8220;The estimated back in stock date is Fall 2024. We greatly apologize for this inconvenience.&#8221;
The CEO of American Apparel, which makes most of the uniforms, said over the summer that inflation impacted the company&#8217;s ability to find workers to produce items.
“McDonald’s and a lot of the fast food guys are paying $2 and $3 more an hour than we could afford to pay,” CEO Chuck Lambert <a href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/29/camouflage-uniform-shortage-prompts-marine-corps-to-soften-attire-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Marine Corps Times in August. “Where they could go up on the price of the hamburger, we can’t go up on the price of a uniform.”
Commandant Smith was <a href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/21/the-marine-corps-finally-gets-an-official-top-leader/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nominated</a> by President Biden in May and confirmed as the military branch&#8217;s leader just last month.

TOPSHOT-AFGHANISTAN-US-NATO-UNREST

Marine Corps Loosens Uniform Standards Amid Camouflage Shortage

Marines

Military

U.S. Military

The COVID pandemic exposed the weakness of America’s supply chain. Over-regulation, congested ports, and supplier shortages all combined to drive up the price and lead times of the products the United States imports from around the world. The supply chain has recovered, for the most part, as the global economy has slowed and shippers began utilizing ports on the East and Gulf Coasts, alleviating the congestion in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 
Today, however, the supply chain is once again teetering on the brink of a catastrophe, this time at the hands of labor unions and mother nature.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents approximately 22,000 West Coast dock workers, reached a tentative agreement with an “association representing the U.S. West Coast employers of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/west-coast-port-union-employers-reach-tentative-agreement-some-issues-2023-04-20/">port laborers</a> on some key issues,” in April 2023. These negotiations have been dragging on for nearly a year, and the contract between the “Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the union expired on July 1, 2022.”
The deal has yet to be ratified, and there are still many open issues that remain to be resolved. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-02/la-oakland-port-terminals-shut-over-congestion-labor-issues?cmpid=BBD060523_TRADE&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_term=230605&amp;utm_campaign=trade">Last week</a>, members of the ILWU effectively “shut down operations at some marine terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Similar actions shut down or severely impacted terminal operations at the ports of Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, and Hueneme.”
The COVID-driven congestion of West Coast ports, combined with the threat of labor actions by dock workers there, have driven many supply chain professionals to divert shipments to the Gulf and East Coasts of the United States. In fact, according to Bloomberg, “West Coast container volumes were down 10% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period in 2019. Gulf ports saw a 43% increase in goods over the same period.”
But ports in the Gulf and East Coasts may find themselves on the outside looking in. A significant drought is lowering the water level of Gutan Lake in Panama and  the Panama Canal, resulting in both weight limits and rising surcharges for vessels traversing the canal.
The Panama Canal Authority has reduced the draft (how deep a ship can sit in the water) from 50 feet to 44 feet, which can reduce a ship’s payload by up to 40%, per <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-02/inflation-rates-may-stay-high-if-panama-canal-drought-snarls-supply-chain?cmpid=BBD060523_TRADE&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_term=230605&amp;utm_campaign=trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>. Some ocean carriers began charging per-box container fees of $300-500 on June 1 in response to draft limits. Cargo rates will “rise on other routes if low water levels for shippers to find <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/06/02/panama-canal-water-levels-drought-inflation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alternatives</a> — especially in the peak shipping months of August and September when retailers build inventory ahead of the holiday shopping season.”
If the Panama Canal continues to see its depth decrease, and the cost of shipping via the canal rise, companies will have to either utilize the Suez Canal to service East and Gulf Coast ports or rely on West Coast ports — the same ports that are under threat of a work stoppage.
Interestingly, the challenges faced by the Panama Canal could contribute to inflation in the United States, forcing the Federal Reserve to continue increasing interest rates. Steamship companies are raising rates and imposing surcharges for companies shipping via the Panama Canal. Since ships will carry approximately 40% less cargo, companies will need to ship more containers, failing to take advantage of full container load pricing. This will drive inflation. In fact, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261560622001747" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> shows that a 20% increase in shipping costs will raise the inflation rate by 0.15 percentage points one year later.
A West Coast dock workers’ strike, combined with shrinking water levels in the Panama Canal, would have a devastating impact on the U.S. supply chain and the nation’s economy.
One person missing from this discussion is Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Perhaps ‘Mayor Pete’ has once again gone on vacation, as he did during the negotiations with railroad workers in the Fall of 2022.
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Container Ship Bow

Buttegieg’s Looming Maritime Supply Chain Crisis

Department of Transportation

Los Angeles

Panama Canal

Pete Buttigieg

Readers Pass

The Federal Trade Commission launched an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/antitrust" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inquiry</a> on Wednesday into the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/baby-formula" target="_blank" rel="noopener">baby formula</a> shortages which have <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">harmed</a> infants and strained their parents over the past several months.
The agency, which centers on consumer protection and the enforcement of antitrust laws, issued a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Baby%20Formula%20RFI_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">call</a> for public comments about factors that may have led to the shortages that started at the beginning of last year after a series of safety incidents. Officials invited families who have experienced “fraud, deception, or scams when attempting to purchase infant formula,” as well as retailers who have seen “extremely large purchases of infant formula in excess of a single family’s need,” to submit their insights.
&#8220;We have been monitoring and will continue to monitor the ongoing infant formula shortage, which is causing enormous anxiety, fear, and financial burden for American families,&#8221; FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/05/federal-trade-commission-launches-inquiry-infant-formula-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. &#8220;The FTC is launching a public inquiry to identify the factors that contributed to the shortage or hampered our ability to respond to it. Learning from this experience can help determine how we can minimize the risk of similar shortages in the markets for other life-sustaining products.&#8221;
The move from the FTC comes after Abbott Nutrition temporarily shuttered a baby formula facility in Sturgis, Michigan, last year and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abbott-nutrition-reopens-baby-formula-plant-at-center-of-nationwide-shortage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initiated</a> a voluntary recall of several products over concerns about bacterial contamination, a move which came after the FDA found standing water, roof leaks, bacteria growth, and inadequate hygiene in the facility. The sudden absence of EleCare, a formula for children who are unable to digest other products, from the marketplace was especially worrisome to parents and government officials.
Reckitt, another consumer goods company, introduced another nationwide recall of baby formula earlier this year and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/baby-formula-recalled-nationwide-over-possible-bacterial-contamination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that two batches of ProSobee Simply Plant-Based Infant Formula may have been contaminated with a species of bacteria possibly deadly to infants.
The inquiry from the FTC will also examine the impact of FDA regulations on the “number of infant formula suppliers, capital investment, and total manufacturing capacity” of the product. The agency asked public commenters to report “regulatory barriers that have prevented companies located outside the United States from entering the infant formula market.”
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The White House previously sought to alleviate the shortage with “Operation Fly Formula,” an initiative through which the military imported baby formula from European nations. Some Democratic officials meanwhile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-yorks-democratic-ag-goes-after-price-gouging-amid-formula-shortage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that producers were engaged in price gouging.
Worldwide lockdowns and public health mandates fostered unpredictable supply chain shocks over the past three years, contributing to inflation in many countries. Prices for baby food and formula rose nearly 9% year-over-year as of last month, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and saw costs increase more than 4% on a month-to-month basis.
Robert Ford, chief executive of Abbott Nutrition, previously apologized for the shortages in an opinion <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/baby-formula-ceo-has-a-message-for-parents-hit-by-nationwide-shortage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a>, admitting that his firm “fell short” of expectations but insisting that the shutdown was necessary. “We believe our voluntary recall was the right thing to do,” he wrote. “We will not take risks when it comes to the health of children. The data collected during the investigation, genetic sequencing, retained product samples and available product from the four complaints did not find any connection between our products and the four reported illnesses in children.”

Baby Formula Display

‘Anxiety, Fear, And Financial Burden’: Agency Launches Investigation Into Baby Formula Shortages

FTC Launches Investigation Into Baby Formula Shortages

Antitrust

babies

baby formula

The average age of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cars</a> and light-duty trucks on American roads has reached 12.5 years, according to a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/average-age-of-light-vehicles-in-the-us-hits-record-high-12-5-years-according-to-sp-global-mobility-301824463.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from S&amp;P Global, a phenomenon that comes as bottlenecked <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supply chains</a> and elevated <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflation</a> continue their toll on households.
The financial analytics firm noted that 2023 marked the sixth consecutive year of increased average vehicle ages. The three-month rise between 2022 and 2023 constituted the largest year-over-year increase since the recession which struck the United States between 2008 and 2009, during which consumers likewise tightened their budgets in response to economic turmoil.
&#8220;We expected the confluence of factors impacting the fleet coming out of 2021 would provide further upward pressure on average vehicle age. But the pressure was amplified in the back half of 2022 as interest rates and inflation began to take their toll,&#8221; said Todd Campau, associate director of aftermarket solutions for S&amp;P Global Mobility. &#8220;While pressure will remain on average age in 2023, we expect the curve to begin to flatten this year as we look toward returning to historical norms for new vehicle sales in 2024.”
There are presently more than 284 million vehicles in operation on American roads; continual increases in popularity for light-duty trucks will cause the number of passenger vehicles to decline below 100 million for the first time in nearly five decades. Firms in the aftermarket repair sector are slated to experience windfalls as the number of cars between six and 14 years old is forecasted to increase by 10 million in the next five years.
S&amp;P Global linked the higher average vehicle ages in 2022 to “supply constraints that caused low levels of new vehicle inventory” in the first half of the year, followed by “slowing demand as interest rates and inflation reduced consumer demand” in the second half.
Lockdowns and public health mandates imposed over the past three years by governments across the world fostered unpredictable supply chain shocks, contributing to inflation in many countries. Sectors impacted most severely by foreign bottleneck exposure, such as automotive manufacturing, textiles, and basic metals, also witnessed the most extreme inflationary pressures, according to an <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/economic-synopses/2022/05/12/supply-chain-disruptions-and-inflation-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Persistent labor shortages that followed the lockdown-induced recession continue to produce difficulties for American companies seeking to hire more workers. There exist roughly 9.6 million job openings and 6.0 million unemployed individuals across the American economy, according to a <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reflecting a labor market that has further worsened inflationary pressures as firms increase compensation to attract and retain workers.
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Officials at the Federal Reserve have meanwhile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-unveils-quarter-point-target-interest-rate-hike-as-banking-system-reels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> the target federal funds rate to combat the inflationary pressures: target rates now sit between 5.0% and 5.25%, increasing borrowing costs for consumers, including those who finance their car purchases with debt.
American economic growth slowed to a 1.1% annualized rate in the first quarter, marking a significant decline from previous quarters as the economic headwinds slow recovery from the recession and the interest rate hikes decrease demand, according to an advance <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-economic-growth-slows-to-1-1-in-first-quarter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimate</a> from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Cars

Americans Delay Buying New Cars As Long As Possible To Avoid High Prices

Americans Hit By Inflation Delay Buying New Cars As Long As Possible

Inflation

Interest Rates

U.S.

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/european-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European</a> lawmakers reached a deal Tuesday on a semiconductor <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stimulus</a> bill meant as an answer to the CHIPS and Science Act, a similar package enacted in the United States that prioritized domestic semiconductor firms.
The European Chips Act will <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/european-chips-act_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobilize</a> some $47 billion of public and private investments into semiconductors such that the European Union composes 20% of the worldwide market by 2030. The legislation would allocate funds to develop technological capabilities, foster talent in microelectronics, and build partnerships with like-minded nations.
“Semiconductors are at the centre of strong geostrategic interests, and of the global technological race,” the European Commission said in a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_2045" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Chips are the essential building blocks of digital and digitised products. From smartphones and cars, through critical applications and infrastructures for healthcare, energy, defence, communications and industrial automation, chips are central to the modern digital economy.”
Western incentives for the semiconductor industry come as a response to the reality that China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan control nearly 80% of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity, according to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/04/12/ensuring-a-stronger-us-taiwan-tech-supply-chain-partnership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Brookings Institution, while Taiwanese firm TSMC alone produces over 90% of the sophisticated chips used in cell phones and computers. A reliable supply of semiconductors is necessary to develop artificial intelligence and weapons technologies, as well as mitigate risks over supply chain disruptions that could emerge from Chinese geopolitical ambitions toward Taiwan.
European leaders have criticized the CHIPS and Science Act, which <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/09/fact-sheet-chips-and-science-act-will-lower-costs-create-jobs-strengthen-supply-chains-and-counter-china/#:~:text=%20FACT%20SHEET%3A%20CHIPS%20and%20Science%20Act%20Will,for%20capital%20expenses%20for%20manufacturing%20of...%20More%20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">authorizes</a> nearly $53 billion in manufacturing incentives for semiconductor operations in the United States, for favoring domestic firms. French President Emmanuel Macron, for instance, said the law promotes a protectionist approach toward global trade and risks “fragmenting the West,” as noted by a <a href="https://cepa.org/article/made-in-america-made-in-france-protectionism-threatens-the-atlantic-tech-alliance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Initial negotiations over the European Chips Act last year prompted Intel, an American multinational corporation headquartered in California, to <a href="https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/eu-news-2022-release.html#gs.v7q1n9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announce</a> a $36 billion investment into a research hub in France and a manufacturing facility in Germany. The advancement of the European Chips Act this week could prompt additional semiconductor investments in Europe from companies based in the United States.
The CHIPS and Science Act has meanwhile attracted significant investments from both domestic and international firms: Micron <a href="https://investors.micron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/micron-announces-historic-investment-100-billion-build-megafab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a $100 billion memory chip initiative in New York, and TSMC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chipmaker-triples-investment-in-new-arizona-plant-to-40-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">devoted</a> $40 billion toward new facilities in Arizona. Several companies had issued “public warnings” last summer vowing to “scale back their plans to make semiconductors” in the United States since lawmakers had stalled in negotiations over the new incentives, according to a <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2022/06/icymi-three-companies-warn-about-delayed-chip-funding-globalwafers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Department of Commerce.
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European and American lawmakers have also traded blows over the Inflation Reduction Act, another $369 billion package from the United States which subsidized American electric vehicle manufacturers and neglected to offer the same benefits to European automakers. West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-lawmakers-wine-and-dine-with-klaus-schwab-business-leaders-at-world-economic-forum-in-davos-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> European officials at the World Economic Forum that the law was “designed to basically strengthen the United States so that we can help our allies and friends, which need it right now.” He also called the continent’s leaders “hyper-hypocritical” given the several decades in which they advanced their own protectionist measures.

EU flag

European Lawmakers Strike A Deal For Their Own Semiconductor Bill After Criticizing American Version

European Lawmakers Strike A Deal For Their Own Semiconductor Bill

European Union

World

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/walmart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walmart</a> announced on Tuesday that 65% of its stores will be serviced by <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">automation</a> within the next three years, a development which follows persistent shortages of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supply chain</a> workers.
The retail behemoth said in a <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2023/04/04/walmart-outlines-growth-strategy-unveils-next-generation-supply-chain-at-2023-investment-community-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> that executives will prioritize logistics innovations powered by both humans and technology in the coming years. As automation arrives at the majority of Walmart stores, which also operate as components of the firm’s logistics operations, some 55% of fulfillment center volume will move through automated facilities, a change that could produce 20% improvements in unit cost averages.
Walmart recently showcased the supply chain innovations at a regional distribution center in Brooksville, Florida, where a combination of data, software, and robotics solutions enables “a more consistent, predictable and higher quality delivery service to stores and customers,” as well as faster reactions to shifting consumer demand. Walmart is one of the <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/askwalmart/how-many-people-work-at-walmart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largest</a> private sector employers in the United States and currently has 1.6 million domestic associates.
The company noted that the new technology will create roles that “require less physical labor but have a higher rate of pay” even as the number of overall employees are maintained or increased. “We are a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon remarked in the press release. “As it relates to being people-led, it’s about purpose, values, culture, opportunity and belonging. We serve our associates by creating opportunities.”
The news occurs as the persistent labor shortages which followed the lockdown-induced recession continue to produce difficulties for public and private entities seeking to hire more workers. There exist roughly 9.9 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed individuals across the economy, according to a <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reflecting a labor market that has worsened inflationary pressures as firms increase compensation.
Walmart indeed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walmart-raises-minimum-wages-as-worker-shortages-crunch-labor-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hiked</a> their minimum wages earlier this year such that average pay for employees across the country will now surpass $17.50 per hour. Amazon, another leading private sector employer, also <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/amazon-invests-nearly-1-billion-in-increased-wages-for-operations-employees#:~:text=Average%20hourly%20pay%20for%20employees,and%20location%20in%20the%20U.S." target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> nationwide wage increases: average hourly pay for employees in customer fulfillment and transportation are slated to increase above $19.00 per hour, with employees earning between $16.00 per hour and $26.00 per hour depending on their position and their location in the United States.
Walmart addressed the particularly severe worker shortages in their supply chain operations by revealing initiatives meant to help store associates become certified as truck drivers and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walmart-will-now-offer-up-to-110000-salary-for-new-drivers-announces-12-week-training-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earn</a> as much as $110,000 during their first year in the new position. The economy as a whole currently has a shortfall of 80,000 truck drivers, according to <a href="https://trucking.org/news-insights/ata-chief-economist-pegs-driver-shortage-historic-high" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the American Trucking Association, which noted that the figure could expand to 160,000 drivers in the next seven years.
Companies in the service industry have likewise turned toward automation amid the labor shortages: McDonald’s recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-real-minimum-wage-is-zero-mcdonalds-restaurant-uses-automation-for-pickups-and-orders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">created</a> a test restaurant in Texas in which customers can use kiosks and a mobile app to pick up their orders from a conveyor belt rather than interacting with customer-facing staff, while Chipotle <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-passed-a-new-minimum-wage-bill-now-chipotle-is-testing-a-robotic-chip-maker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tested</a> a robotic tortilla chip maker in a California location.
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Discussions about technological unemployment over the past several decades have centered on blue-collar workers losing their jobs to automation and robotics. The recent widespread adoption of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language processing tool that can complete tasks such as writing code or drafting emails in a matter of seconds, has nevertheless broadened the conversation to white-collar professionals. Artificial intelligence could replace as much as 7% of jobs in the United States, according to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colossal-share-of-american-jobs-could-be-replaced-by-ai-new-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published this week by Goldman Sachs.

Walmart

Majority Of Walmart Stores Will Be Automated Within The Next Three Years

Most Walmart Stores Will Be Automated Within The Next Three Years

Business

Robots

American officials are concerned that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> technology at ports across the country could provide the communist nation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/espionage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insights</a> about <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shipping</a> traffic and <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national defense</a> activities, according to a Sunday <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-sees-giant-cargo-cranes-as-possible-chinese-spying-tools-887c4ade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Wall Street Journal.
Cranes and large steel structures manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, also known as ZPMC, contain sensors that monitor the destination of shipping containers which move through American ports, the WSJ reported. Defense authorities have voiced concern that the Chinese-owned engineering company may be offering the Chinese Communist Party data regarding items shipped for the purpose of American military operations.
“Cranes can be the new Huawei,” former National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Bill Evanina told the outlet, comparing the infrastructure to products <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bipartisan-group-of-senators-introduce-bill-to-ban-chinese-telecom-giant-huawei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manufactured</a> by the Shenzhen-based telecommunications company. “It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection.”
Evanina added that the cranes could be remotely controlled by adversarial actors seeking to disrupt the flow of goods from American shipping facilities.
Ports in Virginia, South Carolina, and Maryland which are sometimes used by nearby military bases have recently acquired new cranes from ZPMC. FBI agents reportedly uncovered information-gathering technology aboard a ship delivering ZPMC cranes to the Port of Baltimore in 2021.
The defense spending <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20221205/BILLS-117hres_-SUS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> passed by Congress at the end of last year directs the United States Maritime Administration and Department of Homeland Security to conduct an unclassified study to “assess whether there are cybersecurity or national security threats posed by foreign manufactured cranes at United States ports.” ZPMC claims to control 70% of the worldwide crane market, while one unnamed American official told The Wall Street Journal that some 80% of ship-to-shore cranes at ports in the United States are manufactured by the firm.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed the revelations from The Wall Street Journal as “complete paranoia” during a Monday press briefing in Beijing, according to a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/china-america-zpmc-cranes-ports-national-security-1785743" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Newsweek, and said the concerns are &#8220;misleading to the American public.&#8221;
Reports of the possible spy cranes come shortly after at least one Chinese surveillance balloon recently traversed the continental United States. The vessel crossed Montana, the location of many defense assets and missile silos, then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-spy-balloon-flies-out-of-montana-and-over-new-u-s-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> over states such as Kansas and Missouri before the object was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-after-biden-let-it-travel-across-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shot down</a> by the American military off the coast of the Carolinas. The balloon was reportedly one of several deployed over military sites across the planet.
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Anxieties surrounding Chinese espionage also occur as President Joe Biden prohibits TikTok, a social media platform controlled by Chinese technology company ByteDance, on devices <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-unanimously-votes-to-ban-tiktok-on-government-devices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">owned</a> by the federal government. The move was preceded by several similar bans issued by state governments and requests from lawmakers to limit the platform’s reach in the United States.
The White House is also expected to unveil an executive order that would ban American investors from funding the development of Chinese advanced semiconductors, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other technologies with surveillance and military applications, according to a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-refining-executive-order-banning-american-companies-from-investing-in-key-chinese-sectors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The New York Times. Lawmakers threatened to pursue their own investment restrictions in the absence of plans from the executive branch.

Container ships at dock

Defense Officials Worry About New Chinese Espionage Threat, Report Says

Chinese Spy Cranes: Defense Officials Concerned By Surveillance Of American Ports From CCP-Owned Company

China

Espionage

National Security

Technology

Supermarket chains in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-k" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Kingdom</a> have started to ration <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fruits and vegetables</a> as a nationwide <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shortage</a> of fresh produce continues.
Tesco, the nation’s leading grocery retailer, has introduced limits on tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers to three items per customer, according to a <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/breaking-aldi-becomes-latest-supermarket-29284106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Mirror. Budget supermarket Aldi implemented an identical move, while the purchase limits at Asda also apply to lettuce, bagged salad, broccoli, cauliflower, and raspberries. Customers at Morrisons can purchase two items per individual when shopping for tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and peppers.
Lidl was the latest supermarket chain to introduce limits on fruit and vegetable purchases as cold weather in Spain and Morocco impacts the availability of fresh produce in the United Kingdom, according to a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64785676" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from BBC News. &#8220;Whilst we still have good availability across the majority of our stores, due to a recent increase in demand we have taken the decision to temporarily limit the purchase of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers to three items per person,&#8221; a spokesperson for Lidl told the outlet. &#8220;This will help to ensure that all of our customers have access to the products they need.&#8221;
Beyond growers in the warmer climates of Spain and Morocco, rising prices for energy, fertilizer, and animal feed have introduced cost pressures for British farmers, leading one-third to change their cropping plans, according to a <a href="https://www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-information/rising-costs-government-needs-to-assess-impacts-on-farming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> released last summer by the National Farmers Union. Some producers, for instance, are pivoting from growing milling wheat for bread to growing feed wheat for livestock because of the lower fertilizer required for the latter.
“Costs are rising rapidly on farms across the country and across all sectors,” National Farmers Union President Minette Batters said in a statement. “It’s already having an impact on the food we&#8217;re producing as a nation as well as leading to a crisis of confidence among farmers.”
British Farming Minister Mark Spencer met earlier this week with grocery executives to discuss the shortages. A statement from the British Retail Consortium, a trade association that represents supermarkets, said that consumers can expect relief in the coming weeks and that suppliers “acknowledged the importance of food security, but noted that this requires a wider strategy involving government, farmers, food manufacturers, retailers and hospitality,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/uk-government-calls-supermarket-bosses-salad-crisis-talks-2023-02-27/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Reuters.
The shortages in the United Kingdom occur as the global economy continues to grapple with supply chain bottlenecks and the Russian war in Ukraine, which have increased worldwide food and energy prices. Customers in the United States have not been immune from the phenomena: expenses for food at home <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-rises-more-than-expected-in-january-after-biden-claimed-prices-are-coming-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> 11.3% between January 2022 and January 2023, while costs for food away from home rose 8.2% over the same period. A recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crying-fowl-government-warns-of-turkey-shortage-ahead-of-thanksgiving" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bout</a> of the avian flu has likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-price-of-eggs-soaring-138-is-no-coincidence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decreased</a> the size of American poultry flocks, raising costs for chicken and turkey while causing a severe increase in prices for eggs.
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Despite the persistent increases in food expenses, President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-claims-families-have-a-little-bit-more-breathing-room-after-another-dismal-inflation-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> last week to an inflation data release by contending that “we have made progress on inflation, but we have more work to do.” He touted efforts from his administration to reduce prices and said Republicans undermine the economy by opposing his spending agenda.

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