President Joe Biden on Friday attacked shipping companies over the prices they’re charging, as he also continued to tout his administration’s efforts to help Americans deal with high inflation,
Market Watch reports.
His speech at the Port of Los Angeles followed news that the annual rate of inflation rose to 8.6% in May, topping forecasts and marking a fresh 40-year high. Rising rents and high gasoline and food prices drove up the latest reading for the consumer price index, or CPI.
Biden called for “letting those nine foreign shippers understand the ripoff is over.”
He said there are nine major companies that ship from Asia to the U.S., and they “have raised their prices by as much as 1,000%,” while their profit has increased by sevenfold in one year to $190 billion.
The president praised the Senate for passing the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act, adding that he’s “hopeful the House is going to act soon to crack down on these companies as I’ve asked and lower the cost.” The bill aims to establish new restrictions around how carriers may coordinate operations, prohibit shipping lines from “unreasonably” declining exports, and limit added fees on container handling.
Biden blasted Exxon Mobil XOM, -1.83% and other oil giants as well, saying they should use existing drilling permits and invest more, rather than spending on stock buybacks. Share repurchases should be taxed, he added.
“Exxon made more money than God this year,” he said, while telling the company to “start investing, start paying your taxes.” Some Democratic lawmakers have proposed taxes on the buybacks made by publicly-traded companies.
In addition, the president said inflation is a global challenge, and the U.S. can fight it better than other nations thanks to his economic policies.
“America can tackle inflation from a position of strength unlike any other country in the world,” he said.
“Every country in the world is getting a big bite and piece of this inflation - worse than we are, in the vast majority of countries around the world. But make no mistake about it. I understand. Inflation is a real challenge to American families.”
