Bharat Ramamurti, Deputy Director National Economic Council
In his State of the Union Address, President Biden highlighted accomplishments from his first year in office and also laid out future initiatives to help ease inflation. In an exclusive interview with Louisiana Radio Network, Bharat Ramamurti Deputy Director of the National Economic Council said Biden plans to address price gouging in the ocean shipping industry.
“The cost of transporting our goods by one of these state ocean carrier companies has gone up 1,000% in certain cases, a 1,000%, and that means that American businesses are paying more and as a result, American consumers are paying more,” said Ramamurti.
Ramamurti said the agriculture industry has been heavily impacted by the ocean shipping price gouging. And while inflation is caused by a multitude of factors, he said shipping is a large one.
Another sector of the economy that’s responsible for a large part of inflation is the automobile industry. Ramamurti said one-third of inflation last year was in vehicles and the severe shortage of semiconductors or chips that go into cars.
“That’s one of the things the President has been focused on. There’s a bill sitting in Congress right now that would invest billions of dollars in new semiconductor capacity, he’s asking Congress to pass that so we can get on with things and address the shortage we have right now,” said Ramamurti.
When asked about the energy production in the United States, many criticize the Biden Administration saying their clean energy policies have limited production thus causing inflation at the gas pump. Ramamurti said Biden is all for the U-S producing more oil and gas however…
“As of the beginning of this year, there were 9,000 permits for oil and gas drilling that were currently going unused. So, the idea that the federal government is restricting the ability of oil and gas companies to produce more I think is incorrect,” said Ramamurti.
But Republican members of Louisiana’s Congressional delegation still say misguided policies by the Biden Administration have led to high gas prices. Senator Bill Cassidy says he’s working on an energy policy that will restore America’s energy independence while addressing rising global emissions.
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