Reuters will encourage efforts to control inflation and free up oil reserves

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden on Tuesday highlighted his administration’s efforts to tackle rising inflation as the White House increasingly links historic price hikes to companies pocketing big profits.

The Biden administration, along with the Federal Reserve, described the sharp rise in inflation as transient at the beginning of the year, but the pressure for action has increased as the rise in prices has continued to fall.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this month that U.S. consumer prices posted their biggest profit of the year in October https://www.reuters.com/business/us-consumer-prices-surge-weekly-jobless-claims-fall- 2021-11 -10 in 31 years, driven by large jumps in gasoline and other goods costs.

Biden is scheduled to “give notes on the economy and falling prices” at 14:00 EST (1900 GMT).

The White House on Tuesday announced plans to release https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-set-unveil-emergency-oil-release-bid-fight-high-prices-2021-11-23 million. Oil reserves from strategic reserves have been coordinated with China, India, South Korea, Japan and the UK to cool prices after OPEC + producers repeatedly rejected calls for more crude.

Biden can also point out that the White House says saving businesses doesn’t pass on to consumers.

“We will continue to put pressure on oil companies that have achieved a record profit and are overseeing what we believe is a price increase,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told foreign journalists on Air Force One on Monday. “When there is a supply of oil or when the price of oil is going down and the price of gas is not going down, you don’t need an economic expert to know that this is a problem.”

Psaki also stressed that the Administration has asked the Federal Maritime Commission to ensure free and fair competition and avoid “big profits” for ocean carriers, and said the new data showed companies in the sector made nine times more profits in the third quarter than last year.

Biden said last week that oil and gas companies that keep fuel prices high were growing evidence of anti-consumer behavior, and called on the Federal Trade Commission to delve deeper into possible “illegal behavior” in the market.

The Democratic president may also highlight his administration’s efforts to project stability to markets on Tuesday, including a move announced Monday to nominate Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, a Republican, for another term as head of the U.S. central bank, despite some progressive Democrats backing.