Bipartisan effort launched to onshore manufacturing of key supplies never before 'Made in USA'
EXCLUSIVE: Senators from both sides of the aisle will put forward a resolution calling on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to seek out new sites and critical infrastructure for high-demand products that are currently not made in America, and analyze the viability of making such products here.
Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee chairwoman Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., came together Friday to launch the effort – citing the dual need for onshoring supply chains while bolstering the U.S. workforce.
The Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act would force Lutnick to report within 18 months on critical infrastructure sectors where products face material, sourcing, or supply-chain constraints that prevent them from being domestically produced.
The Commerce Department would then have to analyze the feasibility of producing that product in the U.S. – and whether such products’ newly-onshore production can be established in underserved rural areas and industrial parks.
Both Ernst’s and Blunt Rochester’s states are vastly rural. In the latter, suburban sprawl from Wilmington gives way to miles of coastal plain.
In recent years, the cities of Newark and Middletown have seen a boom in industrial parks and warehouses for major companies like Amazon seeking out the First State’s famously low-tax and tax-free environs.
"Supply chains are key to global competitiveness and our national security," Blunt Rochester told Fox News Digital.
"This bipartisan legislation will help us identify where we rely too heavily on foreign imports for critical infrastructure and explore how we can bring that manufacturing home."
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The Delawarean added that strengthening domestic production not only protects our supply chains, "it supports American jobs, revitalizes local economies, and reinforces our nation’s resilience if global manufacturing disruptions occur."
Ernst added that the bill seeks to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign adversaries for critical infrastructure and key manufacturing supply chain preservation.
"I am working to make ‘Made in America’ the norm instead of the exception," she said.
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"That starts with ensuring that our manufacturers are able to get the materials they need right here instead of having to import supplies from halfway around the world. Beyond boosting domestic industry, this bill is also about safeguarding our national security by ensuring that we are not dependent on any foreign adversary for critical goods that we need."
Ernst has also spearheaded efforts to onshore the pharmaceutical supply chain from China. Many key ingredients in medicines are not produced in the U.S., and instead predominantly in Ireland and China.
While one is a longtime U.S. ally, the other’s involvement in the supply chain could lead to national security risks, critics have said.