Global supply chains play a crucial role in the seamless functioning of economies, impacting both industries and consumers. During his first month in office, President Biden implemented a comprehensive 100-day review of supply chains. The White House recently released a report on the findings of this review. Two Years of Building Stronger Supply Chains and a More Resilient Economy presents U.S. economic and national security vulnerabilities, and the changes needed to strengthen them.
The economic crisis as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the disruptions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed major weaknesses and created a surge in input costs and inflation. This caused months of empty shelves at stores, longer delivery times, and higher prices at the register. The report highlights the Biden Administration’s efforts to address shortages and bottlenecks throughout the economy that contributed to this crisis.
One big takeaway from the report is the importance of public-private sector collaboration. The report emphasizes the need for a collective effort between the government, businesses, and international allies. Furthermore, it stresses importance of collaborative research and development, information sharing, and technological innovation. Additional recommendations include identifying unfair foreign trade practices, and establishing a Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to monitor supply chain disruptions as the economy reopens.
Two years after the 100-day review, significant progress has been made by implementing more than 70 recommendations included in the report. The release of the White House supply chain report card represents an important step in improving the resilience of critical global supply chains, and laying the foundation for informed decision-making among policymakers and industry leaders. “Today, we see increased access to transportation and warehousing capacity and equipment, solid throughput at the ports, improved delivery times, greater ocean shipping reliability, and steady declines in transportation costs.”
The press release can be read here.
For more information, check out documents in HSDL related to supply chains and the economy.
