Days after revealing a
plan to incentivize office-to-residential conversions, the Biden Administration
has turned its attention once again to the industrial market and shoring up the supply chain.
The move, part of the
administration’s co-called Bidenomics strategy to lower costs for American
families, involves the creation of a cabinet-level council to address the
issue. It is also part of more than 30 actions the administration is taking to,
in the words of a late-November White House Fact Sheet, “help Americans get the products they need when they need them, enable
reliable deliveries for businesses, strengthen our agriculture and food systems
and support [well]-paying union jobs here at home.”
The White
House Council on Supply Chain Fitness will be co-chaired by the national
security and economic advisors. The essential goal is to ensure long-term
supply chain resilience.
The
Council has targeted December 31, 2024 as its first quadrennial supply chain
review. According to the Fact Sheet, “As part of the review, the Council will
update criteria on industries, sectors and products defined as critical to
national and economic security. In addition, 12 months after the Council
promulgates the criteria, and annually thereafter, [it] will apply the criteria
to review and update the list of critical sectors, as appropriate.”
The
mission will involve the efforts of a number of other cabinet departments, from
Agriculture and Energy to (not surprisingly, given the global nature of the
issue) Homeland Security. Actions outlined to date include:
- Use of the
Defense Production Act to make more essential medicines in America and
mitigate drug shortages.
- New
cross-governmental supply chain data-sharing capabilities, with such
cabinet departments as Commerce and Transportation.
- A $275-million
grant from the Department of Energy (DoE) for its Advanced Energy Manufacturing
and Recycling Grant Program, designed to revitalize communities
affected by coalmine or coal-power plant closures.
- The DOE is also
planning research into smart manufacturing, with an eye to promoting
investment to support new digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
- Investments from
the Department of Agriculture (DoA) of $196 million to strengthen our
domestic food supply chains and create more opportunity for farmers and
entrepreneurs in 37 states and in Puerto Rico.
In
addition, Homeland Security (DHS), for its part, has launched a Supply Chain
Resilience Center, set up to secure the “critical infrastructures” to ensure
the delivery of essential services.
(For
an in-depth read on the various programs, click here.)
# # #