Page 14 - THE SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS JOURNAL
P. 14
C. TODAY
Supply Chain Issues, • The Sec. 232 tariffs on steel and
Worker Shortages aluminum from our closest allies in Europe,
Impacted Economic Japan, and Korea adds 25% to the prices of
Growth in Q2 these imported metals without doing anything
to challenge of Chinese overcapacity. The
By CURTIS DUBAY, U.S. Chamber of Commerce administration should lift these tariffs on our
allies today.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the
GDP numbers for the second quarter today, showing • While softwood lumber prices have
the economy grew 6.5 percent from April through fallen in the past two months, they remain
June. Forecasters were expecting growth of around 8.5 elevated. The anti-dumping and countervailing
percent, so this was a large miss. duties on lumber from Canada are set to
double later this year. The administration
There were several reasons growth missed its mark should reach an agreement with Canada to
during the second quarter: suspend these duties.
• Chip shortages depressed motor vehicle If we get policy right and we continue to make
production and sales. advances against COVID, going forward the
rest of the year, we can expect strong growth.
• Price increases for inputs and supply chain -- almost 8 percent in the third quarter and 5
issues caused investment in homes and business percent in the fourth. That growth should carry
structures to decline sharply, negatively impacting the over into 2022 as well.
construction industry.
But, but, but…. these projections assume that
• A draw down in business inventories also inflation does not become a bigger problem,
hurt growth, as businesses are having a hard time workers go back to work at a higher rate, and
replenishing their supplies due to supply chain issues supply chain issues do not get worse. It also
and difficulty getting workers. assumes there is not another serious resurgence
of the virus, such as a variant that breaks
While some of these are transitory issues caused by the through vaccine immunity.
pandemic, there are steps government can and must take
to address supply chain issues and the worker shortage. While the 2nd quarter GDP report disappoints,
For example: we are still on track for a strong 2022. Some
of the growth we missed out in the quarter we
• The worker shortage is driven by numerous will get back later this year when issues such
factors and therefore requires a multi-faceted response. as supply chain pressures, worker shortages
Policy makers should right-size unemployment benefits, and chip shortages ease.
act to address child care affordability and access, support
employer-led rapid worker skilling programs, and
increase legal employment-based immigration to the
United States.
• The back-ups that begin at our West Coast ports
are increasing shipping costs and contributing to delays
for the delivery of a wide variety of goods. Policymakers
should be working to help America’s largest West
Coast ports expand capacity and increase operations to
alleviate backlogs.
11 AMCHAM SOUTH CHINA
Supply Chain Issues, • The Sec. 232 tariffs on steel and
Worker Shortages aluminum from our closest allies in Europe,
Impacted Economic Japan, and Korea adds 25% to the prices of
Growth in Q2 these imported metals without doing anything
to challenge of Chinese overcapacity. The
By CURTIS DUBAY, U.S. Chamber of Commerce administration should lift these tariffs on our
allies today.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the
GDP numbers for the second quarter today, showing • While softwood lumber prices have
the economy grew 6.5 percent from April through fallen in the past two months, they remain
June. Forecasters were expecting growth of around 8.5 elevated. The anti-dumping and countervailing
percent, so this was a large miss. duties on lumber from Canada are set to
double later this year. The administration
There were several reasons growth missed its mark should reach an agreement with Canada to
during the second quarter: suspend these duties.
• Chip shortages depressed motor vehicle If we get policy right and we continue to make
production and sales. advances against COVID, going forward the
rest of the year, we can expect strong growth.
• Price increases for inputs and supply chain -- almost 8 percent in the third quarter and 5
issues caused investment in homes and business percent in the fourth. That growth should carry
structures to decline sharply, negatively impacting the over into 2022 as well.
construction industry.
But, but, but…. these projections assume that
• A draw down in business inventories also inflation does not become a bigger problem,
hurt growth, as businesses are having a hard time workers go back to work at a higher rate, and
replenishing their supplies due to supply chain issues supply chain issues do not get worse. It also
and difficulty getting workers. assumes there is not another serious resurgence
of the virus, such as a variant that breaks
While some of these are transitory issues caused by the through vaccine immunity.
pandemic, there are steps government can and must take
to address supply chain issues and the worker shortage. While the 2nd quarter GDP report disappoints,
For example: we are still on track for a strong 2022. Some
of the growth we missed out in the quarter we
• The worker shortage is driven by numerous will get back later this year when issues such
factors and therefore requires a multi-faceted response. as supply chain pressures, worker shortages
Policy makers should right-size unemployment benefits, and chip shortages ease.
act to address child care affordability and access, support
employer-led rapid worker skilling programs, and
increase legal employment-based immigration to the
United States.
• The back-ups that begin at our West Coast ports
are increasing shipping costs and contributing to delays
for the delivery of a wide variety of goods. Policymakers
should be working to help America’s largest West
Coast ports expand capacity and increase operations to
alleviate backlogs.
11 AMCHAM SOUTH CHINA
