To speed the flow of goods and lower prices, Biden directing $450 million to clogged U.S. ports

WASHINGTON — Clogged U.S. ports are being given access to nearly $450 million in federal money from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law as part of the administration’s efforts to ease supply-chain congestion and lower prices for American consumers.

The grants are aimed at reducing bottlenecks that have slowed the flow of goods to store shelves and pushed up costs, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who announced the availability of a first batch of competitive grants for ports that will be double last year’s amount annually for five years.

The grants are among several pots of money under the $1 trillion law that Buttigieg’s department plans to steer toward providing mid-term and long-term relief to the nation’s supply chain, which administration officials described as somewhat outdated and broken.

Acknowledging that the upgrades will take time, Biden officials largely have shied from giving any assurances that Americans could see clearchanges to their lives before the 2022 midterm elections.

U..S. ports will have until May to apply for the grants, which will be awarded by fall and which Buttigieg said are meant “to help ports improve their infrastructure — to get goods moving more efficiently and help keep costs under control for American families.”

Last year, his department took interim steps to unclog the supply chain and limit inflation pressures, awarding $241 million in grants including $52.3 million to help boost rail capacity at the port in Long Beach, California. It has been aiming to move major ports to longer work days and improve recruitment and retention in the trucking industry.

Biden has acknowledged potential added pain to consumers if U.S. sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine end up limiting Russia’s exports of oil and natural gas and causing global energy prices to soar.