ITI Urges U.S. Policymakers to Increase and Diversify Investments in Technology to Strengthen Supply Chains
WASHINGTON – As the U.S. Congress considers legislation to boost supply chains and enhance U.S. competitiveness, ITI continues to advocate for strategic investments in the U.S. industrial base and workforce development, including through passage of the CHIPS for America Act, which will help boost the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. In a new white paper (opens in a new tab), ITI outlines the importance of geographic diversity and global market access to improving information and communications technology (ICT) supply chain resiliency. ITI also urges policymakers to avoid efforts that seek to redirect and artificially concentrate supply chains through U.S. procurement-related financial incentives and to adopt a risk-based approach to ensuring supply chain resilience.
“The unique and challenging events of the last few years have illuminated the complexity of supply chain risk management for critical ICT components, as well as the importance of resiliency, security, and diversification strategies,” ITI wrote. “Various factors—major weather events, natural disasters, health emergencies, demand surges, transportation constraints, policy/economic sanctions, and war—have and will continue to create disruptions that significantly affect the production and distribution of critical ICT inputs, components, and end products. Managing risks brought by major events requires, above all, supply chains that are diversified and multi-sourced to allow for redundancies and the mitigation of location-specific challenges.”
“Ensuring ICT supply chain security and resilience is crucial to maintaining the strength and leadership of the U.S. government at home and abroad,” ITI wrote. “ITI stands ready to assist policymakers in developing policies that grow U.S. investment in semiconductors and other critical components, properly address supply chain-related threats, and leverage the expansive benefits of the global marketplace.”
ITI highlights the benefits of geographic supply chain diversification and advises against measures that undercut companies’ ability to leverage global sources, including through Buy America provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. ITI also discusses the importance of a risk-based approach in supply chain repatriation, and the need to facilitate investments in domestic production, including through passage of the CHIPS for America Act and the Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors Act (FABS) Act.
Read ITI’s white paper, How the U.S. Government Can Promote IT Supply Chain Resiliency, here. (opens in a new tab)
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