Supply Chains
We should endeavor to ensure U.S. importers and domestic producers source their products from countries with high labor and human rights standards, while at the same time promoting strong domestic manufacturing agenda.
We are still reeling from COVID’s effects on supply chains: fewer people in the workforce, less products being produced, and less products being transported. We need to get people working again at full capacity and promote policies that shrink our reliance on imported goods.
We should make manufacturing in America a priority. We are too reliant on foreign suppliers. In the last Administration we held China and others accountable, enjoyed energy independence, and promoted domestic manufacturing of steel, aluminum, and more; now we are beholden to foreign imports.
We should reduce our economic relationships with countries who do not share our values and are actively working to undermine America.
Domestic COVID-relief policies made employment unattractive. Low U.S. employment meant higher imported products because of low domestic output of goods. A shortage of government employees working the ports meant long delays at ports of entry and border crossings. Inflation compounded this problem further.
Efforts to strengthen our domestic industries will take time. Until then, intricate supply chains may be necessary, but we must ensure they are free of forced-labor products (such as the raw materials sourced from Africa, in mines controlled by the Chinese, who employ child and slave labor).