The Paper's reporter Nan Boyi intern Gong Yanhua
The latest data released Feb. 10 showed the biggest increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) in 40 years, while U.S. President Joe Biden said he expected inflation to begin to ease this year and that the administration was already helping to ease supply chain shortages.
According to Reuters reported on February 10, Biden said that as the supply chain impasse is resolved, the rising consumer price index this year should be able to gradually slow down. Biden also told NBC News that the administration's efforts to address last year's semiconductor shortage have begun to pay off.
The U.S. Department of Labor released data on Feb. 10 showed that the U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 0.6 percent month-on-month and 7.5 percent year-over-year in January, the largest year-over-year increase since February 1982.
After the consumer price index triggered concerns about the Fed's sharp interest rate hike, the US stock index closed sharply lower on the 10th. The US political news website Politico said in an article on the 10th that the latest CPI data looks bad, inflation shows almost no signs of slowing down and is no longer short-lived, the supply problem remains unresolved, and prices in all walks of life have begun to rise.
Earlier in the day, Biden said at an event in Virginia that the proposals contained in the Rebuilding the Good Act he signed would help lower costs for families. The about $1.7 trillion bill includes provisions on social spending and climate change. The bill is currently on hold, and Biden has previously said it could pass a partial rather than a full package.
Democratic lawmakers acknowledged that inflation is becoming an important political issue and has become a growing issue on the Biden administration's agenda, making it more difficult to reinvigorate President Biden's agenda, according to The Capitol Hill.
Senate Democrats are discussing resuming passage of the Rebuild Better Act, or major parts of it, as soon as possible next month, but that time is more fraught with uncertainty after new reports show inflation is rising faster than expected.
Conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said the latest figures add to the fact that Democrats should not return to negotiations on Biden's "rebuilding the good" agenda anytime soon. "Inflation should keep everyone on high alert now," "The market can't afford it." You can't keep adding fuel to the fire. You just can't do it. Manchin said.
Other Senate Democrats acknowledged that rising inflation is becoming a bigger political issue, which doesn't bode well for Biden to pass another spending plan that far exceeds $1 trillion.
Sen. Jon Tester said the possibility of drastically scaling back Biden's climate and infrastructure spending programs "has been on the table" in response to inflation concerns. But he also noted that if Democrats can successfully demonstrate that the Rebuild The Good Act will solve inflation by helping middle-income Americans reduce costs, it may not be necessary.
The White House and Democratic leaders who said the Rebuild The Good bill would mitigate the effects of inflation did not convince Manchin, who has repeatedly warned of the impact of rising prices on the middle class and low-income families in his state. In a statement released on the 10th, Manchin warned that inflation "is draining every American's hard-earned wages and causing real and severe economic pain that can no longer be ignored." ”
Meanwhile, Canadian truck protests could pose new risks to U.S. supply chains and inflation. Politico reported on the 10th that anti-vaccine protests have hindered important trade routes between the United States and Canada, which may exacerbate two ongoing economic challenges facing the Biden administration: supply chain congestion and rising consumer price indexes.
Truck convoys opposing cross-border vaccine requirements have blocked vehicles from crossing the Ambassador Bridge (the suspension bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan, in the United States and Windsor, Ontario, in Canada). In terms of trade volume, it is the busiest international border crossing in North America: more than 25% of the merchandise trade between the United States and Canada passes through this bridge). The sudden shutdown has created new challenges for key U.S. industries that rely on the bridge every day to transport products and parts. Lawmakers said they were increasingly concerned that the blockade would have a knock-on effect on agricultural markets and food shipments across the border.
Responsible Editor: Zhang Wuwei Photo Editor: Le Yufeng
Proofreader: Luan Meng
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