America's Supply Chains

February 24, 2021

Executive Order 14017 directed federal agencies to conduct a comprehensive 100-day review of supply chain vulnerabilities in four critical sectors: semiconductor manufacturing, high-capacity batteries, critical minerals and rare earths, and pharmaceuticals. The order also invoked Defense Production Act authority to support domestic production and directed longer-term sectoral reviews across defense, public health, transportation, energy, and agriculture. While supply chain review falls within executive management authority and the DPA provides statutory basis for production incentives, the order's vision of reshaping industrial policy to reduce foreign dependence raised questions about whether such transformative economic planning should originate in Congress. The order represented executive-driven industrial policy that historically has been a congressional function under the Commerce Clause.