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President Joe Biden’s latest executive order seeks to secure a variety of important supply chains.
For example, in one higher-profile case, General Motors recently announced it would extend downtimes at several plants as a result of a semiconductor shortage.
As we’ve noted in our Rare Earths Monthly Metals Index (MMI) series, rare earths supply has long been a point of concern for the US, particularly the Pentagon. (Recently, MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns delved into China’s overwhelming control of the rare earths processing market and indications Beijing is considering tighter rare earths export regulations.)
In that vein, the president’s latest executive order — his 33rd in just over a month in office, which the White House said he would sign Wednesday — aims to secure those critical supply chains.
The White House said the order focuses on six key areas:
- the defense industrial base
- the public health and biological preparedness industrial base
- the information and communications technology (ICT) industrial base
- the energy sector industrial base
- the transportation industrial base
- supply chains for agricultural commodities and food production
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