Biden Issues Executive Order on Supply Chain Resilience

President Joe Biden issued an executive order to formalize a White House council on supply chain resilience. The council, which includes cabinet departments and other key officials, first met in November 2023 to address supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation. The executive order mandates a comprehensive review of supply chains in industries vital to national and economic security every four years, with the first report required by December 31.

According to a report from the White House, the new council will also identify vulnerabilities in critical supply chains and develop strategies to mitigate risks. While most companies aren't prepared for a supply chain emergency, the executive order will go a long way toward an effective response.

The U.S. supply chain took a major hit earlier this year with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Below are the first two paragraphs of the order.

It is the policy of my Administration to strengthen the enduring resilience of America's supply chains. The United States needs resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure our economic prosperity, public health, and national security. Pandemics and other biological threats, cyber attacks, climate stressors and extreme weather events, transnational corruption, terrorist attacks, geopolitical disputes, unfair economic competition, and other disruptive conditions can reduce critical infrastructure, manufacturing, and processing capacity and the availability of critical goods, materials, and services. Building resilient American supply chains will necessitate enhancing domestic manufacturing capacity, supporting America's competitive edge in research and development, encouraging innovation, reinforcing critical infrastructure, and creating well-paying jobs. Building resilient American supply chains will also provide a foundation to strengthen prosperity, advance the fight against climate change, enhance national emergency preparedness, and encourage economic growth across the Nation.

More resilient supply chains are secure and diverse. Characteristics of resilient supply chains include greater domestic production; a diverse and agile supplier base; built-in redundancies; a reliable transportation system; secure critical infrastructure; adequate stockpiles; safe and secure data networks; reliable food systems; and a world-class, globally competitive American manufacturing base and workforce. Close cooperation on building global supply chain resilience with allies and partners who share our values will foster collective economic and national security, encourage innovation, and strengthen the capacity to respond to and recover from international disasters and emergencies.

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