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Omaha Steve

(99,079 posts)
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 05:03 PM Jul 2020

Biden wants US to produce more of its own pandemic supplies

Source: AP

By WILL WEISSERT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is promising to shift production of medical equipment and other key pandemic-fighting products “back to U.S. soil,” creating jobs and bolstering a domestic supply chain he says has been exposed as inadequate and vulnerable by the coronavirus outbreak.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign released a plan Tuesday to reinforce stockpiles of a “range of critical products on which the U.S. is dangerously dependent on foreign suppliers” in places like China and Russia. That includes medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, but also energy and grid resilience technologies, semiconductors and key electronics, as well as telecommunications infrastructure and raw materials.

It marked the Biden campaign’s most comprehensive statements yet on how it would better equip the nation to fight the coronavirus and future pandemics and other threats — though the proposal did not include specifics on how much doing so would cost. If elected in November, Biden promises to initiate immediately a 100-day review of “critical national security risks across America’s international supply chain,” while asking Congress to create a permanent, mandatory review process.

The former vice president envisions creating a “critical supply chains workforce” that would be part of a larger job creation and economic recovery plan his team has spent weeks promising it will soon release.



Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden puts on a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as he departs after speaking at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)


Read more: https://apnews.com/642660dbc67fbb16260a27f2f89418d8

19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Biden wants US to produce more of its own pandemic supplies (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jul 2020 OP
Hell yeah intrepidity Jul 2020 #1
If only we had a functioning government. fleur-de-lisa Jul 2020 #2
+++ agree. nt iluvtennis Jul 2020 #3
There is a factory in Texas(?) that was ready, Phoenix61 Jul 2020 #4
Biden wants to do something good for America? Champp Jul 2020 #5
Oh my goodness, YES! cp Jul 2020 #6
It's about darned time. Long overdue. Raven123 Jul 2020 #7
He is talking beyond the XO 13922 already in place right? OneCrazyDiamond Jul 2020 #8
This looks very similar Steelrolled Jul 2020 #12
The Congress review is what I see that's new. OneCrazyDiamond Jul 2020 #15
Damn right. n/t CousinIT Jul 2020 #9
We should produce a lot more: JustABozoOnThisBus Jul 2020 #10
Great leadership. Great vision. ancianita Jul 2020 #11
Agree. The U.S. Should Pay a Subsidy to Domestic PPE Makers... TomCADem Jul 2020 #13
A subsidy could be illegal. OneCrazyDiamond Jul 2020 #14
This Is Not A Subsidy to Export PPE TomCADem Jul 2020 #16
Thanks. n/t OneCrazyDiamond Jul 2020 #17
Used to be manufacturing businesses in many Native areas obamanut2012 Jul 2020 #18
KnR Hekate Jul 2020 #19

Phoenix61

(16,954 posts)
4. There is a factory in Texas(?) that was ready,
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 05:09 PM
Jul 2020

willing and able to make PPE. He just wanted a contract long enough to make it financially viable to start up an additional line. He was very reasonable. He just wasn’t willing to invest that much, hire a bunch of people, then have to fire them in a couple of months.

cp

(6,543 posts)
6. Oh my goodness, YES!
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 05:10 PM
Jul 2020

The more positive Democrats and Biden can be, the better. Feel that Americans are mighty thirsty for sensible, positive ideas, including kindness.

 

Steelrolled

(2,022 posts)
12. This looks very similar
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 07:57 PM
Jul 2020

I have wondered about this, because I think we need rules (similar to defense contracts) that require domestic production. I don't care who does it, just get it done. I doubt there is any opposition.

OneCrazyDiamond

(2,029 posts)
15. The Congress review is what I see that's new.
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 08:36 PM
Jul 2020

Agent orange doesn't like Congress. Certainly he wouldn't want reviews.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
10. We should produce a lot more:
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 05:57 PM
Jul 2020

N95 masks, ok.

Also, pharmaceuticals, electronics, steel, etc. We get too much from China, who seems to be increasingly belligerent around the world.

Problem is, those are hard to produce without creating pollution. China seems to be willing to live with the byproducts of industry.

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
13. Agree. The U.S. Should Pay a Subsidy to Domestic PPE Makers...
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 08:10 PM
Jul 2020

...it should not be a tariff, because that just raises the costs overall. Instead, there should be a subsidy that is financed by a lower, more general tariff overall that is used to subsidize domestic makers of critical medical supplies.

OneCrazyDiamond

(2,029 posts)
14. A subsidy could be illegal.
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 08:34 PM
Jul 2020

Prohibited subsidies: subsidies that require recipients to meet certain export targets, or to use domestic goods instead of imported goods. They are prohibited because they are specifically designed to distort international trade, and are therefore likely to hurt other countries’ trade. They can be challenged in the WTO dispute settlement procedure where they are handled under an accelerated timetable. If the dispute settlement procedure confirms that the subsidy is prohibited, it must be withdrawn immediately. Otherwise, the complaining country can take counter measures. If domestic producers are hurt by imports of subsidized products, countervailing duty can be imposed.

https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm8_e.htm

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
16. This Is Not A Subsidy to Export PPE
Tue Jul 7, 2020, 08:38 PM
Jul 2020

This would be a subsidy for an essential good targeted for domestic consumption. Now, if the U.S. subsidizing goods to dump them into another country to wipe out competition, then that would be impermissible for obvious reasons.

obamanut2012

(25,911 posts)
18. Used to be manufacturing businesses in many Native areas
Wed Jul 8, 2020, 12:26 PM
Jul 2020

Including the Pine Ridge Reservation, until they were outsourced.

Place some of these businesses there, in ex coal country, etc.

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