To safeguard the economy from future shortages of critical imported components and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign materials, Biden signed an executive order to bolster the manufacturing of semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and other cutting-edge technologies in the United States.

The move is being seen as an important step towards creating well-paying jobs and increasing the resilience of the economy in times when the country faces the triple threats of the pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical threats.

According to the president, this order will make sure that the United States is prepared to meet all the challenges of the present times.

It is important to mention here that the shortage of semiconductors, which is an important component of cars and many electronic devices, forced several American companies to either close or scale-down their production. The move will not provide immediate relief to such companies but will insulate the economy if a similar situation arises in the future.

The order consists of an immediate 100-day review by federal agencies to address the shortage in the four key product sectors – Active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), critical minerals, large capacity batteries, and Semiconductors, and advanced packaging.

The 100-day review will be done with an aim to figure out the steps the Biden administration and Congress can take to address the shortage of supply chain in the above product sectors. After reviewing the risks in these six sectors, the federal agencies will make policy recommendations to address those risks and propose development and research activities.

The Biden Administration will also consult the outside stakeholders, including industry leaders, labor unions, non-government organizations, academia, communities, state and local governments, to address the shortage issues.

The orders are bipartisan as Mr. Biden met with Republican and Democratic lawmakers at the Oval Office to discuss the issue before the signing.