WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2022) The United States' overreliance on China for some critical materials in the supply chain poses a vulnerability to the country, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Deborah Rosenblum said.
"We find that we're overly reliant for some of the key, critical materials and elements within our supply chain with China, and it's an area that we absolutely recognize as a vulnerability," Rosenblum said during a Brookings Institution defense event on Thursday.
The Biden administration and US Congress had made several efforts to bolster the country's supply chains and critical industries amid disruptions linked to the conflict in Ukraine and increased competition with China.
Biden on Thursday as part of a package request to Congress for Ukraine aid asked for funding to allow the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production of critical minerals and materials that have had supplies disrupted due to the situation in Ukraine, the White House added.
The US Senate on Thursday also moved forward legislation intended to bolster US competitiveness with China, including provisions to ease supply chain bottlenecks on items like semiconductors and bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States, preventing shortages of critical goods by ensuring more are made in the country.
