President Biden orders review of US supply chains in bid to end reliance on China

President Joe Biden has ordered a review of US supply chains, including for personal protective equipment and electric-vehicle batteries, aiming to put an end to America’s reliance on China.

Mr Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday for a 100-day review into possible weaknesses in American manufacturing, as the Covid-19 pandemic put into stark focus how reliant the US is on foreign-made goods to fill the gap left by its own beleaguered industry.

"We shouldn't have to rely on a foreign country to provide and protect our people during a national emergency," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House. "We need to stop playing catch-up" and prevent a crisis from hitting in the first place, the president said, warning of the danger of the supply chain being used as leverage.

A lack of PPE and other medical equipment left hospital workers resorting last spring to reusing masks and gloves to try to keep themselves safe from the coronavirus.

More recently, automakers were forced to shut down plants because of a shortage of computer chips, putting workers on furlough.

An initial review will look at four products: chips, large capacity batteries used in electric cars, pharmaceuticals, and rare earth minerals. Then, the administration will take a closer look at six sectors: defence, public health and biological preparedness, communications technology, transportation, energy, and food production.

In a sign of the urgency of the matter, Mr Biden met Wednesday at the White House with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss the global computer chip shortage.

Mr Biden hopes to address the potential national security and economic risks of having to import sensitive goods from countries such as China.

While the executive order does not mention China by name, experts say the move is aimed at countering the US's biggest economic rival, which produces most of the world's supply of minerals used in phones, the defence sector, and electric cars.

"While we cannot predict what crisis will hit us, we should have the capacity to respond quickly in the face of challenges," the White House said.

"The United States must ensure that production shortages, trade disruptions, natural disasters and potential actions by foreign competitors and adversaries never leave the US vulnerable again."

Mr Biden has said China is the "most serious competitor" to the US and earlier this month, he warned senators that China is aggressively outpacing America on infrastructure.

"If we don't get moving, they're going to eat our lunch," he said.

The order fulfills a pledge made by Mr Biden in the run-up to the November election.

During the campaign, he said the US “needs a stronger, more resilient domestic supply chain in a number of areas, including energy and grid resilience technologies,” electronics, telecommunications infrastructure and key raw materials.