Leibowitz on Trade: Strategic Stockpiles and Their Limitations

The Biden administration, picking up where the “America First” Trump administration left off, extols the virtues of increased production here at home. There are many advantages to this approach, the president says. Increased production in the US will diminish reliance on China in critical materials for electric vehicles (rare earth metals and lithium, for example). More domestic manufacturing will increase job creation.

Yet, as always with policy debates, there are problems too. Reliance on global supply chains is essential for resources that are not available domestically. There are serious deficiencies in copper, iron ore and bauxite, where domestic production is a tiny fraction of global production.

Lewis Leibowitz

Lewis Leibowitz, owner of the Law Office of Lewis E. Leibowitz, practices in the areas of international trade law, customs law, and international commercial transactions. He represents clients before all federal courts and agencies dealing with international trade matters. Mr. Leibowitz advises and assists clients in diverse matters including trade remedies, customs, foreign-trade zones and free trade agreements, trade negotiations, and related matters. He can be reached at lewis.leibowitz@lellawoffice.com.