Former Vice President and current 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden released a plan July 7 outlining steps he says he will take if elected to "rebuild" U.S. supply chains and ensure the country doesn't face the kind of supply shortages it has seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Biden said he will "immediately marshal all of the tools of the federal government to secure sufficient supplies, treatments, and as soon as possible, a vaccine to combat the pandemic."
His plan is a combination of increased domestic production, strategic stockpiles, cracking down on anti-competitive practices that threaten supply chains and implementing plans to surge capacity in times of crisis, according to a news release.
According to the plan, Mr. Biden will shift production of a "range of critical products" back to the U.S. to protect supply chains against national security threats. If he takes office, Biden says he will immediately initiate a 100-day review to identify critical security risks across the country's international supply chains.
He also promised to create an ongoing governmentwide process to monitor supply chain vulnerabilities as well as use the Defense Production Act to put Americans to work making critical products needed to respond to the pandemic.
Mr. Biden said he will use the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to spur medical production and he will ensure the U.S. tax code encourages onshoring of pharmaceutical supply chains.
Read Mr. Biden's full plan here.