When US monetary officials meet later this month to make the next decision on whether — or, more accurately, by how much — to hike interest rates to tackle inflation, they will no doubt look to supply chain issues as a key factor.

And after expressing so much anger at the liner sector that he at one point wanted to punch somebody, US President Joe Biden is no doubt looking to the country’s west coast, where labour negotiations covering dozens of container ports have led to calls that he intervene to prevent more snarls in the supply chain that could further fuel inflation.