Supply Chain Issues Impacting the Pacific Northwest

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended supply chains across the globe. Factory closures, labor shortages, and shifting household consumption patterns have all accentuated an already stressed global supply chain and logistics system. The latest surge in inflation—the highest since the early 1980s—is in large part due to global supply shortages mismatched with resurgent consumer demand.

Although media coverage has tended to focus on port capacity as the leading issue, the causes are far more complex. These include soaring consumer demand for physical goods during the pandemic, the availability of trucks and warehouse space, and the workforce needed to make our distribution systems function.

In this event, experts with knowledge of port operations and trucking systems will explain how the supply chain crisis has been impacting the Pacific Northwest and unpack the issues behind the current situation.

This event is produced by the Washington State China Relations Fund, a 501(c)3 non-profitable charitable organization, which is a sister organization of the Washington State China Relations Council.

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PANELISTS

Annette Sandberg has more than 20 years of professional public safety and law experience at the Federal and State levels of government and now heads Transafe Consulting LLC as well as practicing law for the offices of Annette Sandberg PLLC.

Ms. Sandberg became the 2^nd Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCA) in 2003 following her nomination by President George W. Bush and her confirmation by the Senate. Ms. Sandberg led the agency with a staff of 1,100 and a budget of $465 million until April 2006. She also served as the Deputy Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with 600 employees and a $403 million budget.

A nationally recognized expert in law enforcement and public safety, she led the Washington State Patrol as Chief for 6 years. When appointed in 1995, she was the first woman to lead a state police agency. She served in the Washington State Patrol from 1983 to 1994 rising to the rank of Lieutenant.

Ms. Sandberg received a law degree from the Seattle University Law School in 1993.

Tong Zhu oversees the  Northwest Seaport Alliance’s (NWSA) commercial team, including the alliance’s cargo and real estate businesses, marketing, and research.

Zhu served as the chief commercial officer at the Port of Tacoma from 2010 until the inauguration of the NWSA in 2015. As chief commercial officer, she managed the activities of the Port’s diversified business portfolio, including container, non‐container, intermodal and real estate as well as overseeing the marketing, research, and customer outreach activities of the Port’s business development teams.

Before joining the Port of Tacoma, Zhu managed international relations at the Port of Seattle and directed the State of Washington’s greater China trade development programs. With the state, she played a critical role in former Gov. Gary Locke’s successful China trade development programs and helped advance and finalize business contracts and international agreements.

Zhu is a cum laude graduate of the University of Washington Tacoma with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.  She serves on the Executive Committee of the Washington State China Relations Council, and the Board of Directors of the Japan America Society of the State of Washington and the Evergreen Building Products Association.

MODERATOR

Dr. Spencer Cohen is the Principal and Founder of High Peak Strategy LLC, an international trade and economics research consulting firm based in Seattle, WA. He consults and writes extensively on international trade, China’s economy, industry clusters, and regional economic analysis. He has written opinion pieces in the South China Morning Post, The Daily Guardian (India), Puget Sound Business Journal, and Seattle Business Magazine. Prior to forming High Peak Strategy, he served as senior economist with a Seattle-based economics consulting firm. He has also held policy and research roles with the State of Washington.

Spencer is a 2021-2023 Public Intellectuals Program fellow with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Senior Fellow with Infinite Sum Modelling, an economics modeling and research firm, and affiliate professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Washington.