News Analysis Global supply chain issues, shortages of finished goods, and price inflation in the United States and around the world are exacerbated by disruptions in merchant shipping. Chinese ports account for 40 percent of the world’s containerized trade, with the most popular routes being from China to the U.S. West Coast and Northern Europe. On Oct. 7, there were approximately 386 cargo ships and container vessels anchored, standing idle, near two of China’s biggest ports—Shanghai, the world’s largest container port, and Ningbo, the third largest. The disruptions of supply chains in the United States, as well as the shortages of products on retail shelves and the price inflation being felt by U.S. consumers, are worsened by an inability to get products and inputs out of China. The flow of goods out of China is being impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, power outages, coal shortages, Typhoon Chanthu, and backlogs at factories …