President Joe Biden plans to sign an executive order Wednesday seeking to strengthen America’s supply chains in several sectors to bolster the economy and protect workers, administration officials said.
The executive order would strengthen supply chains for critical goods primarily in mainly four areas: pharmaceuticals, rare earth minerals, semiconductor chips and large-capacity batteries. Officials said the order was prompted, in part, by the widespread shortage of personal protective equipment and supply chain issues at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic during the Trump administration.