Building resilient supply chains: What role for the US, EU and UK?

The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent semiconductor shortages have put a spotlight on global supply chains. But the rethinking and reconfiguration of global production networks have been driven by many pre-existing structural trends, such as increased geopolitical and geo-economic tensions as well as the shift towards digital and low-carbon economies.

Governments in the US and Europe have a critically important role to play in supporting firms’ efforts to build resilient supply chains. The transatlantic partners hold a leading position in international trade and the global economy, and enjoy wide-reaching economic partnerships with Asia-Pacific nations. Recent supply-chain resilience initiatives by the US, EU and UK, and like-minded partners, provide opportunities to address shared vulnerabilities and to maintain trade-openness, with a key role for the World Trade Organization.

Drawing on a recent Chatham House paper on US and European strategies for resilient supply chains, panellists will seek to answer:

• What motivations drive government efforts to strengthen supply-chain resilience, and how does this differ from - and overlap with - the private sector’s concerns regarding supply-chain vulnerabilities? 
• How can the US and European governments best harness an array of public policy tools to protect strategic supply chains without sliding into protectionism and while managing resultant trade-offs?
• What could a new balance between efficiency and resilience as well as between globalization and national self-sufficiency look like? How can international cooperation at the bilateral, regional and global level be strengthened in order to strengthen supply-chain resilience?