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WASHINGTON — Since the pandemic erupted two years ago, Forest Ramsey and his wife, Kelly, have held the line on prices at their gourmet chocolate shop in Louisville, Ky. Now, they’re about to throw in the towel.

WASHINGTON — To alleviate supply chain woes around the country, two senior senators introduced legislation meant to improve the flow of freight at commercial ports.

U.S. supply chains have a chance to return to more normal operations after retailers replenish inventories next quarter, even if the next peak shipping season arrives sooner than usual, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said Feb. 9.

The U.S. trade deficit grew in 2021 to the largest on record, reflecting a surge in the value of consumer-goods imports as the pandemic discouraged spending on services and drove more outlays for merchandise.

Surging prices of the raw materials needed for refrigerators, automobiles, window frames and plumbing show no signs of abating as America’s supply chain crisis spills into another year.

The latest hurdle to shipping goods in a world gripped by pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions is a shortage of cardboard boxes, according to one of the world’s biggest makers of the material.

The head of one of Canada’s largest supermarket chains says the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border is raising the cost of shipping fresh food. But so far, it has had little impact on the retailer’s ability to stock shelves.

By the end of last year, the long-awaited $1 trillion infrastructure policy bill was signed into law, the holiday season saw the vast majority of packages delivered with minimal delays, and the USDOT announced more than $241 million in grants to domestic ports.

Truck tonnage in December rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4% compared with the same month in 2020 — the fourth consecutive year-over-year gain and the highest measurement since March, American Trucking Associations announced.

Ocean shipping rates are expected to stay elevated well into 2022, setting up another year of booming profits for global cargo carriers — and leaving smaller companies and their customers from Spain to Sri Lanka paying more for just about everything.