It’s been a very eventful, to put it mildly, couple of weeks in U.S. politics. We had the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump (who is now officially the Republican candidate for President), and over the weekend, President Biden announced that he was exiting the race due to mounting pressure from many in the Democratic Party, and many voters too, about his age and mental fitness to serve another term.
There are many words to describe the current political climate here in the U.S.. Unfortunately, none of them are positive or uplifting. It’s sufficient to say, yet again, that we live in interesting times.
Last August, as the race for “President of the United States” kicked off, we asked members of our Indago supply chain community — who are all supply chain and logistics executives from manufacturing, retail, and distribution companies — “If a debate were held to solely discuss supply chain related topics, what topics would you include on the agenda?”
Topping the list, by a large margin, was “Trade policy with China” which was selected by 65% of our member respondents. Tied for second were “Road transportation infrastructure” and “Sustainability regulations,” which were both selected by 40% of the respondents.
“Any feedback regarding trade policy with China, to hear differences in approaches from the presidential candidates, would be fascinating,” said one Indago supply chain executive. “That is the topic I’m most interested in by a wide margin. Transportation infrastructure is also an interesting topic because its scale requires federal support and it likely needs direction from the top.”
Here are some other value-added comments submitted by our members:
“The continued trade relationship with China would be top of mind, as well as any shifts in other trade agreements with partner nations such as the USMCA for obvious reasons. But I feel like there is not enough of a push for ethical sourcing around child/forced labor. It’s a difficult problem to solve, as is any problem in the supply chain, but this one is worth regulating and tackling.”
“Road infrastructure should take precedence over anything else. Too much rhetoric coming from Washington every time a bill passes to improve our road conditions and make improvements.”
“With sustainability becoming more of a focus and the industry putting attention on electric trucks, where will the energy come from? What regulations will push one form [of energy] over another?”
“My largest concerns are over-regulation of transportation fuel regarding the environment and the rush to use alternative fuels before they are proven and before the infrastructure is available to support them. There is also the underlying question of whether CO2 emissions even need to be reduced; it’s not a pollutant and the evidence that there is global warming and that CO2 emissions contribute to it is highly questionable.”
“To be honest, all these topics are incredibly relevant to our supply chains, and they ensure our supply chain security and competitive edge in the global economy. Trade policy as it stands, with all Section 301 tariffs still in play, is still impacting businesses and costs within the supply chain. Though I feel like it’s having a positive effect [in terms of] companies shifting away from China for manufacturing, it is still painful for businesses to have to continue shouldering these costs, which contributes to inflation. Sustainability, especially CO2 emissions within the supply chain and the work to bring them down, will have a long-term effect on business. Given the prevalence of new AI technology, cybersecurity is going to be increasingly important. Also, global peer competition is likely to leak into the cyber realm and businesses will need to be prepared to protect themselves from 3rd party actors attacking businesses on behalf of their local governments.”
Indago members can download the full report from our website.
Who knows what will happen in the weeks and months ahead in the U.S. presidential race, but assuming another debate occurs between the candidates, and you were given the opportunity to ask them a supply chain related question, what would you ask them? Which topic/issue is the most important in your opinion and why? What changes/improvements would you like to see related to that topic or issue? Post a comment and share your perspective!
