Readout of Biden-Harris Administration’s Convening with Baltimore Businesses and Supply Chain Stakeholders

Yesterday, following the official reopening of the Port of Baltimore, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard convened a meeting of businesses and supply chain industry partners to discuss progress restoring business to the port. On March 26, vessel traffic was suspended due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

Secretary Buttigieg thanked participants for stepping up in the wake of the tragedy to work together to keep local workers employed and mitigate negative economic fallout to the Baltimore community and the country. He shared how the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) was able to use infrastructure funding to expand capacity for additional cargo at Tradepoint Atlantic and used DOT’s Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative to improve visibility into the cargo being re-routed to other East Coast ports.  

National Economic Advisor Brainard discussed the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to tackling economic disruptions, keeping costs low across the supply chain, and helping Baltimore rebuild from the collapse. She credited President Biden’s Supply Chain Disruption Task Force for helping the government, business, and labor work in partnership to identify and troubleshoot challenges, reroute cargos temporarily, and ensure shippers remain committed to a full return to Baltimore. 

Businesses that rely on the port thanked the Biden-Harris Administration for taking decisive action in response to the bridge collapse. One company spoke about how the collaborative efforts helped save jobs and keep a factory operating. Across the supply chain, participants appreciated the Administration’s efforts to bring everyone to the table to address challenges and keep lines of communication open. Ocean carriers communicated that their vessels were returning to Baltimore after the quick removal of debris from the federal channel by the US Army Corp of Engineers.