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“Ordinary people and businesses are feeling the effects of these delays and bottlenecks. It makes it challenging to get products on the shelves, and for goods to be delivered to the doorstep,” said the administration official.

Experts say the massive bottleneck at the California port complex is the result of a combination of factors, both domestic and global.

Among them, a pandemic-related surge in demand for durable goods in the United States, an outdated domestic freight and rail system, factory shutdowns in places like China and Vietnam, and a shortage of skilled longshoremen on the West Coast.

Bottlenecks at the ports have created a domino effect within the larger economy.

Consumers are being advised to buy Christmas presents in October, for example, if they want to be sure to get a particular item.

Among retailers, both large and small companies are having an extremely difficult time securing cargo containers to transport goods to the United States from Asia, where the lion’s share of consumer products are manufactured.

Skyrocketing costs are also part of the problem. Over the past year, the cost to have one container shipped by freighter from China to the West Coast has soared from around $3,000 in Aug. 2020 to more than $20,000 in September of this year.

The global supply chain bottleneck poses a uniquely complex challenge for the Biden White House, at a time when the president is under intense pressure to accomplish other major priorities.

Among them are bills to enact Democrats’ signature domestic legislation in Congress, a bill to fund the government, another to raise the debt ceiling, forthcoming rules to enact a wide-ranging employer Covid-19 vaccination mandate, and competing pressures from both the left and right to stem a migration surge at the Southern border.

Unlike those challenges, however, there is little the federal government can do to compel private companies to move goods more quickly or efficiently.

“The supply chain is, essentially, in the hands of the private sector, so we need the private sector to step up to help solve these problems,” the official said.

Below are the expected attendees at Wednesday’s meeting, scheduled to begin at 1:45 P.M.

• Gene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles
• Mario Cordero, Executive Director, Port of Long Beach
• Willie Adams, International President, ILWU  
• James Hoffa Jr., General President, Teamsters   
• Greg Regan, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
• John Furner, President & CEO, Walmart U.S.
• Dr. Udo Lange, President and CEO, FedEx Logistics
• Nando Cesarone, President, U.S. Operations, UPS
• Brian Cornell, Board Chairman and CEO, Target
• KS Choi, President and CEO, Samsung Electronics North America
• Matt Shay, President & CEO, National Retail Federation
• Peter Friedman, Executive Director, Agriculture Transportation Coalition
• Chris Spear, President and CEO, American Trucking Association
• Ian Jeffries, President and CEO, American Association of Railroads
• Suzanne Clark, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Geoff Freeman, President and CEO, Consumer Brands Association
• Jim McKenna, President and CEO, Pacific Maritime Association