The National Retail Federation applauded President Joe Biden’s executive order Friday creating a presidential emergency board of independent arbitrators, effective Monday, to help bring labor peace to major U.S. rail freight carriers and their unions. Thousands of retailers and other enterprises rely on rail freight carriers to move goods through the supply chain, said NRF Senior Vice President-Government Relations David French. “Now that we are in the peak shipping season for back-to-school and winter holiday merchandise,” it’s critical that freight railroads and their unions reach agreement on a new labor contract “without any kind of rail service disruption this fall,” he said Friday. The board will “provide a structure for workers and management to resolve their disagreements,” said the White House Friday. The board will issue a report within 30 days recommending how the dispute should be resolved, it said. The EO triggers a new 30-day cooling-off period to keep the parties working toward a negotiated settlement, said the White House. The existing cooling-off period expired Sunday. NRF CEO Matthew Shay wrote Biden July 6 urging him to appoint a board to avert a possible rail strike in September (see 2207070001).

A virtual Supply Chain Ministerial Forum co-hosted Tuesday and Wednesday by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will convene stakeholders from labor, industry and “civil society” to address solutions to reduce “short-term bottlenecks and longer-term supply chain challenges,” said the State Department Friday. The event will be livestreamed on the department’s website and on its YouTube channel, it said.

More than half of U.S. supply chain executives responding to a Carl Marks Advisors survey don’t expect a return to “a more normal” supply chain until the first half of 2024 or beyond, reported the investment bank Monday. The bank partnered with publisher SupplyChainBrain to canvass 107 executives online May 20 to June 10, finding 22% expect disruptions to continue at least until the second half of 2023, it said. More than two-thirds of those polled said they're “very concerned” that the U.S. economy “could tilt into a recession over the next 12 months as a result of rising interest rates, high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, and a resultant pull-back in consumer confidence,” it said. When the execs were asked what “magic levers” could potentially bring supply chain costs under control in 2022 and help mitigate uncertainty, the top responses were ending the war in Ukraine (32%) and lowering fuel costs by 20% (31%), it said.

U.S. ports handled 2.4 million 20-foot-long containers or their equivalents in May, reported the National Retail Federation Friday, up 6% from April and 2.7% higher year over year, setting a new record for the number of containers imported in a single month since NRF began tracking imports in 2002. NRF attributed the increase to retailers stocking up before dockworkers’ West Coast labor contract expired July 1. Cargo operations are continuing, said the association. “Cargo volume is expected to remain high as we head into the peak shipping season, and it is essential that all ports continue to operate with minimal disruption,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy. “Supply chain challenges will continue throughout the remainder of the year, and it is particularly important that labor and management at West Coast ports remain at the bargaining table and reach an agreement.”

The National Retail Federation and its members want the White House to appoint “respected, experienced and impartial arbitrators” to a presidential emergency board to avert a freight rail strike in September, NRF CEO Matthew Shay wrote President Joe Biden Wednesday. NRF and its members “are concerned about the potential for U.S. freight rail disruptions stemming from the National Mediation Board’s premature release of the parties from labor negotiations,” said Shay. “We urge the administration to encourage the parties to come back to the table where they can make their own fair and mutually beneficial agreement.” Peak import season “is upon us, tied to back-to-school and holiday shopping,” said Shay. Rail network disruptions in September “could have long-lasting negative effects on these important selling seasons,” he said. “Product delays and shortages are correlated with inflation -- an issue of great significance to Americans and the economy.”

As the West Coast ports labor contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association was to expire Friday, a coalition of more than 150 business groups wrote President Joe Biden, urging his administration “to work with the parties to reach a new agreement” without disruptions to port operations. “We know that there are significant issues for both parties that need to be worked out during this contract negotiation,” said the groups, including CTA, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The only way to resolve these issues is for the parties to remain at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith,” they said. Extending the current contract past its expiration “would provide additional certainty to all of the supply chain stakeholders that rely on the U.S. West Coast ports,” they said. “This is even more important as we continue to experience supply chain disruptions and congestion for a variety of reasons.” The White House didn’t comment.

The global spend on enterprise asset tracking will grow from $16 billion in 2022 to $45 billion in 2027 as supply chain demands create more need for real-time monitoring of high-value assets, reported Juniper Research Monday. The report forecasts the number of assets tracked will reach 24 billion by 2027, up from 8 billion this year. It advises asset-tracking platform providers to include real-time monitoring that can leverage multiple technologies, including GPS, 4G and 5G networks. GPS is a cost‑effective technology widely used today, but the broad network capabilities of 4G and 5G should be used to monitor assets with the highest value, it said.

Sourcemap, a supplier of supply chain traceability software, debuted a new forced labor compliance platform ahead of Tuesday’s enforcement deadline of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. President Joe Biden signed the UFLPA into law Dec. 23, using his Tariff Act Section 307 authority to ban imports originating in Xinjiang, China, unless the importer of record shows Customs and Border Protection “clear and convincing evidence” that the goods weren't produced with forced labor (see 2112250001). More than 3,000 companies already use Sourcemap to verify their global supply chains for customs compliance, said the company Thursday. Sourcemap developed the platform specifically to help companies solve the chain of custody challenge, proving they can trace products from raw material to U.S. import, by assembling “definitive proof of the entities within their supply chains,” it said. The platform’s traceability capabilities can verify “the chain of custody for every container entering a U.S. port,” it said.

More than 120 tech and business chief executives urged House and Senate leadership Wednesday to “act urgently” to pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which is currently in conference. The bill is “critical” to the U.S. economy and would help strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chains, said a letter signed by the leaders of major tech firms, electronics manufacturers, semiconductor companies and others. “Our global competitors are investing in their industry, their workers, and their economies, and it is imperative that Congress act to enhance U.S. competitiveness,” they said. “We call on Congress to act promptly to achieve a bipartisan agreement that can be passed and signed into law.” Signatories included the CEOs of Adobe, Alphabet, Analog Devices, GlobalFoundries, IBM, Microsoft, Philips and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The National Retail Federation cheered final House approval of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, saying it would curb unfair business practices by ocean carriers. “Retailers and thousands of other businesses depend on the global maritime transportation system to move goods through the supply chain every day and continue to face significant challenges,” said David French, NRF senior vice president-government relations. Making OSRA federal law “helps address longstanding systemic supply chain and port disruption issues that existed well before the pandemic by providing the Federal Maritime Commission the additional authority it needs,” said French Monday. The measure also provides “critical updates to the international maritime transportation system, which has been severely impacted by COVID-19,” he said.