covid upended the global supply chain, says national interest magazine. companies have an idea on how to make the supply chain stronger: rely less on china by “nearshoring” production -- in places like mexico and central america
but foreign policy magazine says the u.s. hasn’t really done much to bring manufacturing closer to the u.s. -- we talk a big game but aren’t following through
the financial times blames mexico. trade disputes with china gave mexico a perfect opportunity to increase trade with the u.s., but it’s blowing its chance w/ bad economic policies -- companies are afraid to invest!
forbes is still team mexico -- it has tons of advantages over china and far fewer downsides. think: closer geographically, closer time zones, closer languages. the list goes on!
the wsj says reshaping the global supply chain is really tough, and will take time. it’s hard to source raw materials in the americas, and latin america is way behind asia in production quality and logistics
treasury secretary janet yellen has a tweak to nearshoring: “friendshoring”!
so what do folks think of this idea? bloomberg says there are costs and benefits alike. friendshoring could make supply chains less vulnerable, but it could also make us less productive
a financial times op is more pessimistic -- relying only on friendly nations is expensive and really hard to pull off!
and for certain things, like materials for electric batteries and wind turbines, we have no choice but to turn to china. china basically controls those supply chains