Officials said that U.S. president Joe Biden issued a formal executive order on Friday, establishing a White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience and mandating the completion of a comprehensive report before the end the year.

The first meeting of the council, which includes cabinet departments and key officials, took place in November 2023. It was part of an effort by the administration to improve supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID epidemic and tackle inflation.

The order, reported by Reuters earlier, requires that the council conduct a four-year supply chain review for industries vital to national or economic safety and submit its first report before December 31.

Reuters reported that Gina Raimondo, the Commerce Secretary, said on May 31, that supply chain problems remain a major issue. "Companies are continuing to look at their supply chains and realizing huge vulnerabilities because key components still are sourced by a single company in a single country."

Biden invoked Cold War Defense Production Act last year to boost investment into U.S. manufacture of medical supplies and medicines. This was one of the 30 measures announced by the administration to support industrial supply chains, and to counter historically high inflation.

The purpose of the council is to support federal efforts to "strengthen long-term supply chains resilience and American competitiveness"; identify and coordinate a response to supply chain vulnerabilities, threats and insecurities including excessive geographic or provider concentration.

Lael Briand, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Reuters that the collaboration between the White House and the federal government's supply chains "represents a sea change in how the federal governments operates." We need to recognize that we must keep up-to-date data on shipments, and other areas where friction may occur.

She and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg both cited the Council as a critical factor in

The Baltimore airport reopened quickly

This week, the shipping channel will be in service. David Shepardson, David Gregorio (Editing and Reporting)