Biden administration to spend more than $4 billion on aging U.S.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration outlined several initiatives on Tuesday aimed at addressing immediate supply-chain challenges and other disruptions affecting global commerce.

Several senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to share details of the proposed plans, said the administration will begin work within the next 60 days with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on $4 billion worth of construction work at coastal ports, inland waterways as well as other corps eligible facilities.

The plan will identify and prioritize $3.4 billion in upgrades to obsolete inspection facilities that will make international trade more efficient through the northern and southern borders, a senior administration official said.

“This is a long-overdue infrastructure improvement and it has clearly been a bottleneck in the past,” the person added.

The officials said that the administration plans to standardize data sharing requirements for shipping lines, terminal operators, railroads, truckers, warehouses, and cargo owners.

“There is not a lot of data sharing among the private sector and participants in the goods movement chain,” the official explained, adding that the lack of data exchange causes delays and inefficiencies as cargo moves from one part of the supply chain to another.

The U.S. Digital Service is working with the Federal Maritime Commission and the joint program office at the Department of Transportation to build a data framework that will help move goods more efficiently, the senior Biden administration official said.

“This is one of the more important but less visible parts of this program,” the person added.

The world’s supply chain – already exacerbated by the pandemic – is continuing to bear the brunt of surging consumer demand, labor shortages and overseas manufacturing delays, which has led to higher transportation costs and inflation.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will visit the Port of Baltimore to discuss how the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by lawmakers on Friday will improve ports and strengthen supply chains.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate in August but sat idle in the House for months, will finance colossal upgrades to America’s roads, bridges, airports, seaports and rail systems.

The bill, the single largest federal investment in American history, includes $17 billion in infrastructure improvements at coastal and inland ports, waterways and ports of entry along the U.S. border.

The measure, which Biden has yet to sign into law, includes an additional $110 billion to repair roads, bridges as well as other major…