On Monday, as part of his Bidenomics agenda to lower costs for American families, President Biden convened the inaugural meeting of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience.
The President addressed the Council and discussed the importance of fixing supply chains to lower costs and provide more breathing room to American families. He announced more than 30 new actions to strengthen America’s supply chains, lower costs for families, and secure key sectors, detailed in a fact sheet here. They include new steps through the Defense Production Act to support domestic manufacturing of essential medicines, as well as new data collaboration to spot supply chain risks sooner. President Biden lauded the work his Administration has done to bring manufacturing home and strengthen supply chains since supply chain bottlenecks peaked during the pandemic, and called on his Council to continue this work to keep supply chains secure, diversified, and resilient into the future. He also spoke to the work his Administration is doing to build deeper relationships with allies and partners around the world, and to support the workers that keep supply chains secure and our economy moving. And the President called on corporations who have benefitted from lower input costs to pass those savings on to American families.
Secretary Buttigieg, in introducing President Biden, also spoke to the unprecedented investments in America’s supply chain infrastructure, including at our ports. He highlighted the Department of Transportation’s innovative efforts to facilitate greater data sharing among supply chain participants, and the work through President Biden’s Trucking Action Plan to improve working conditions for the truck drivers who move goods across the country.
The Council members used the remainder of the meeting to discuss these announcements and the work they are undertaking in more detail. Council members noted the importance of resilient supply chains to economic, national, and homeland security, and discussed additional ways their agencies will collaborate to advance these priorities, including sharing data to identify supply chain risks and recommendations to address them. They also affirmed the need for continued support for good working conditions for the workers who keep supply chains running.
They noted that supply chain resilience remains a key topic in diplomatic discussions with allies and partners, and highlighted ongoing bilateral and multilateral efforts to strengthen supply chains, including the first-of-its-kind Supply Chain Agreement recently concluded in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
Council members also remarked on the economic benefits of investing in America and in our supply chains—which lowers costs for businesses and brings jobs in industries of the future to communities that have been left behind. They noted the positive impacts this work has on the fight against climate change, particularly through investments in supply chains for clean energy and agriculture and food. Council members also highlighted the importance of deeper engagement with the private sector on efforts to fortify domestic competitiveness and diversify critical supply chains.
Participants in the first meeting of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience included:
- Lael Brainard, Assistant to the President and National Economic Advisor
- Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
- Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury
- Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture
- Julie Su, Acting Secretary of Labor
- Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation
- Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy
- Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
- Michael Regan, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
- Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative
- Jared Bernstein, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
- Liz Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President & Homeland Security Advisor & Deputy National Security Advisor
- Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor
- Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor
- Brenda Mallory, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality
- Dr. Dave Applegate, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey
- Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources
- Don Graves, Deputy Secretary of Commerce
- Adrianne Todman, Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Drenan Dudley, Acting National Cyber Director
- Reta Jo Lewis, Chair of the Export–Import Bank of the United States
- Paul Friedrichs, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy
- Radha Plumb, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
