Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
Joe BidenTrump renews culture war, putting GOP on edge Atlanta mayor says she has tested positive for COVID-19 Trump downplaying sparks new criticism of COVID-19 response MORE released a plan on Tuesday for ensuring the U.S. doesn’t face shortages of critical products, especially medical equipment, that could be needed during a crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic.
His plan focuses on products that, according to his campaign, the U.S. is too dependent on foreign suppliers for, including medical equipment as well as energy and grid resilience technologies, semiconductors, electronics, telecommunications infrastructure and raw materials.
“Under President Trump
Donald John TrumpCNN’s Anderson Cooper: Trump’s Bubba Wallace tweet was ‘racist, just plain and simple’ Beats by Dre announces deal with Bubba Wallace, defends him after Trump remarks Overnight Defense: DOD reportedly eyeing Confederate flag ban | House military spending bill blocks wall funding MORE, our supply chains have actually gotten less secure,” a senior Biden campaign official said on a call with reporters on Tuesday.
The effort attacks what the Trump administration views as a strength of Trump’s: his trade policy. President Trump often argues trade policies by the Obama administration and its predecessors led by both parties weakened U.S. supply chains.
But the Biden campaign is taking that on, arguing that Trump’s policies have made the U.S. weaker and that the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the problems.
Under the plan announced Tuesday, Biden would immediately initiate a 100-day review of the U.S. supply chains if he takes office in January and ask Congress to enact a supply chain review process so it takes place every four years, according to a senior campaign official.
He would use the Defense Production Act to step up manufacturing of critical products, use federal purchasing power to bolster manufacturing and build long-term supply chain resilience for pharmaceuticals.
The campaign officials were critical of Trump for offshoring jobs and stressed that this plan puts Americans back to work. It also aims to create stock piles of supplies “so that the United States never again faces the kind of vulnerability it did in this crisis,” an official said.
The Biden campaign is set to release a strategy soon on how the former vice president plans to create jobs through manufacturing, the officials said.
