President Biden Issues Executive Order on U.S. Supply Chain

President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday mandating a review of the U.S. supply chain for critical goods, including materials needed for manufacturing COVID-19 products ― fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail.

The order calls for an “immediate 100-day review across federal agencies,” in tandem with Congress, to pinpoint supply-chain vulnerabilities for four critical product areas, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in the manufacture of drugs.

“In recent decades, more than 70 percent of API production facilitators supplying the U.S. have moved offshore,” notes a White House statement, adding that federal assessment of the API supply chain “will complement the ongoing work to secure supply chains needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”