President Joe Biden was scheduled to meet with the chief executive officers of big retailers as well as other businesses on Monday to discuss the best way to bring products to the shelves when holiday shopping season in the U.S. holiday shopping season starts with Omicron coronavirus.

Biden has been struggling to deal with U.S. inflation that recently was at a record 31-year high has taken measures to attempt to break the supply chain blockages such as unblocking ports and increasing the hours of truckers.

It is reported that the Democratic President has requested inquiries into the excessive cost of shipping and possible illegal activities in the markets for gas and oil that keep fuel prices at a high.

Biden was planning to welcome at White House White House the CEOs of Best Buy, Food Lion, Samsung North America, Qurate Retail Group, Todos Supermarket, Etsy, Mattel and Kroger, the White House said.

Participants who will be virtual at the meeting are expected to include Walmart President Doug McMillon and CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch.

Biden will speak to the media at the end of the meeting, which coincides with the beginning of the holiday shopping season the day after Black Friday.

Black Friday sales on retail increased by 29.8 per cent over 2020 until 3 p.m. on the day, as per Mastercard SpendingPulse. Shoppers who went out to shop for Christmas gifts following that U.S. Christmas holiday discovered shops less crowded owing to the shift to online shopping covid-19 worries and less steep discounts. Read more

US retailers are expected to make online sales that could reach $11.3 billion this Cyber Monday. This is a decrease in sales growth from the previous year due to fewer discounts and less selections due to global supply chain issues deter shoppers.

On Monday morning, Biden will receive a briefing by Covid-19 response team of the White House Covid-19 response team regarding developments pertaining with Omicron.

The World Health Organization warned on Monday that this variant could spread across the globe with the risk of a “very high” global risk and where a surge in infection could result in “severe consequences” in some regions.

The variant was reported across south Africa while there was a surge in the U.S. economy appeared to increase last week following that number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits slowed to an all-time low of 52 years.

After a volatile sell-off last Friday bit that of peace was restored to global markets on Monday. Investors were waiting for more information to determine the impact of the Omicron variation on the global economy, which allowed battered stocks along with oil price to re-gain their luster.

(Adapted from USNews.com)

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