As Strong as Our Weakest Link: Strengthening Global Supply Chains in a Rapidly Changing World

This timely collection of brief essays and interviews calls attention to a long-standing business practice that has recently become a pressing national security matter: the outsourcing of the production of industrial components and services to overseas locations. U.S. consumers have benefited tremendously from the lower costs of goods produced by cheaper foreign labor but at the expense of the security of supply. Rising geopolitical tensions in Asia and now Europe have added to the urgency of relocating production to the United States, to friendlier nations, or to nearby trading partners. In response, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have passed legislation that subsidizes the national production of semiconductor chips and electric vehicles. The collection raises some provocative possibilities. The new emphasis on reshoring and resilience could jeopardize U.S. competitiveness and stoke inflation. Resurgent U.S. economic nationalism might strain relations with key Asian and European allies. And Mexico and other Latin American countries could benefit from implementing economic competitiveness policies that attract supply chain investors now wary of more distant Asian locations.