Building resilient, diverse and secure supply chains is vital to U.S. national security and the competitiveness of U.S. companies and workers, especially for materials that underpin critical technologies. In recent years, U.S. policymakers have focused on China’s role in certain global supply chains, noting that the United States needs to guard against overreliance on a single source, especially in the context of the U.S.-China competitive landscape and continuing political and geopolitical risk. One in four U.S. and European Union (EU) firms are either considering or have begun actively moving parts of their manufacturing and sourcing activities out of China.

This report examines the interdependencies in strategically significant supply chains and makes recommendations for improving resiliency both overall and within five identified critical supply chains:

• Critical Minerals and Materials
• Synthetic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)
• Agrochemicals (e.g., crop protection)
• Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA)
• Foundational Semiconductors

This report includes several recommendations for policies that are cross-cutting strategic enablers of resiliency across supply chains:

• Trade: Deepen economic integration through trade and investment agreements with priority partners that can serve as alternative sources for critical inputs, alternative platforms for manufacturing and processing, and alternative markets for U.S. goods and services in the face of geopolitical risk.
• Tax: Maintain a competitive tax code in the United States that ensures businesses continue prioritizing the United States as the primary location to create jobs.
• Workforce: Modernize the public workforce development system to ensure investments are preparing workers for in-demand careers, expanding economic opportunity for all Americans and complementing businesses’ efforts to build a world-class, “ever-ready” U.S. workforce.
• Regulation: Streamline regulatory frameworks and permitting processes for critical supply chains to expedite market entry, foster innovation and promote resiliency. At the same time, each identified critical supply chain has unique attributes and concentration risks. Mitigating these risks will require a more targeted approach through tailored public policies, which in turn will strengthen resilience and promote growth. These supply chain-specific policy recommendations are outlined in greater detail in the second half of this report.