China's Covid Lockdowns Causing Global Companies To Panic

This is how many vessels are waiting to enter the port of Shanghai. Raising interest rates will not solve this problem (just saying) pic.twitter.com/HfOx6VlyV8

— Michael Nicoletos (@mnicoletos) April 22, 2022

Fortune: ‘Companies are beginning to panic’: Experts say China’s lockdowns will make inflation and the supply chain nightmare even worse 

China’s strict COVID-19 lockdowns will exacerbate global supply chain woes and add to inflation in the coming months, experts say. 

President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy is being tested as the country struggles to tame its worst virus outbreak yet. Frustration is rising over food shortages, people being locked down in their homes for weeks, and a policy of killing pet dogs suspected of being infected with COVID. 

While China’s tech hub Shenzhen has emerged from its nearly month-long lockdown, China’s biggest city, Shanghai, home to the world’s largest container port, has remained shuttered since March 28. 

Now, the economic effects are starting to show. Fuel demand in China is on track to drop 20% this month in the biggest decline since the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns more than two years ago, sources told Bloomberg on Friday. And global supply chains are beginning to feel the crunch as well. 

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WNU Editor: Here is a sobering read on how bad the supply chains have become because of China .... Global Shipping Update: China is About to Wreck Your Summer (Mish Talk).

Update: More doom and gloom from the IMF and the World Bank .... World Bank and IMF gathering underscores a bleak global outlook (Larry Elliott, The Guardian).

U.S. Intelligence And National Security Agencies Warn Supply Chain Are Facing Cyber Threats

FOX News: Intelligence, national security agencies warn of US supply chain threats 

Hackers increasingly using companies and trusted suppliers as 'attack vectors' against US 

The intelligence community on Thursday launched a "call to action" to strengthen U.S. supply chains against threats posed by foreign adversaries, which officials say pose "unique counterintelligence and security threats." 

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, along with the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Department of Defense's Center for the Development of Security Excellence have partnered to "raise awareness" of threats to U.S. supply chains and share information on risk mitigation with the public. 

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Update: Biden’s Supply Chain Worries Signal A Looming Crisis In U.S. Security (Forbes)

WNU Editor: Supply chains are facing multiple threats. Cyber threats included.