5G, COVID-19 and Trade Tensions Among Supply Chain Issues, Experts Say

It takes a lot for companies to move supply chains, and 5G, COVID-19 and trade tensions are some factors, a Flexport webinar was told Tuesday. Strong government action requiring companies to move supply chains would be limited to "a few select sectors,” said John Murphy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president-international policy. For manufacturers, producing in China was a way of “wringing costs out of the supply chain,” said Flexport Chief Economist Phil Levy. Price pressure has intensified, said Ryan Petersen, Flexport CEO. “Consumers are always going to want the cheapest thing, and if anything, the internet’s made price pressure insanely competitive because consumers are in control now.” They can “go find the cheaper thing from whoever’s got it, wherever they might be,” he added. Asked about prospects for national industrial policy, Murphy referenced a bill introduced last month by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Mark Warner, D-Va., that would incentivize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, provide more federal support for R&D and secure the supply chain. “This isn’t the U.S. becoming China,” Murphy said, comparing the initiative to efforts in Singapore, Ireland and Israel.