Rural America relies on the supply chain to move products out to consumers and also to receive supplies to support those efforts, but when a pandemic strikes the vulnerabilities are glaring.
If there is one thing the coronavirus pandemic has brought to light, it is how crucial the supply chains are to domestic and international trade. The U.S. and several other countries realized early on, before the virus spread too far out of China, how much the world depended on them.
Griff Lynch, the Executive Director of Georgia Ports Authority, states, “We can’t have all our eggs in one basket...I don’t think having a lot of cargo coming from the same place makes sense for the future.”
With the U.S. signing the large Phase One Trade Deal with China and unrest in global trade due to COVID-19, many experts are skeptical that China will meat their side of the bargain. Recently, government officials made suggestions to pull out of the deal, but not everyone agrees.
For the United States diversifying the trade supply chain portfolio is already in action. Ongoing talks with the United Kingdom, Europe, India, and Kenya could help further diversify our supply chains. There is also the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement that will take effect on July 1st.