Outlook Supply-Chain Infrastructure:
Freighted with Importance
Robust supply chains are critical for our economic recovery and will benefit US manufacturers seeking to export their goods and make use of the provisions of recent trade agreements. With market access comes the need to ensure efficient means to deliver goods and services. With respect to investment, a com-
petitive supply chain is also essential to the US both as a major investor overseas and as a leading destination for foreign direct investment. Tose investing companies want to know they can rely on the timely receipt of inputs and the efficient movement of goods. Reliable and efficient supply chains,
based on strong and modern infrastruc- ture and effective policy to improve freight movement, increase the attrac- tiveness of the United States as a place to do business. Tis translates immediately into decisions about where to invest and build factories, where to hire, and how well US firms can meet international pricing challenges. Te importance of the supply chain
in economic growth was quantified by a recent study conducted by the World Bank and Bain & Company. Te report, Enabling Trade: Valuing Growth Oppor- tunities, estimated that efforts to reduce problems in border administration as well as transportation and telecommu- nications infrastructure—that is, trade facilitation—could increase global GDP up to six times more than the value of total tariff elimination. Te report also predicted that if all
countries reduced their supply chain barriers towards meeting global best practices, global GDP could increase by 4.7% and world trade by 14.5%.
Tat’s pretty impressive. Addressing the conditions that impede our competi- tiveness—both in infrastructure and policy terms—is crucial to our efforts to expand American trade, support mil- lions of jobs, and promote the growth of our economy. Tis improved performance is central
to realizing the benefits of our recent growth in trade. Trough the President’s National Export Initiative, existing and new exporters are finding new ways to enter foreign markets and expand their sales abroad.
“The simple fact is that if we achieve our goals of expanding our trade flows, we need the systems and infrastructure to carry the increased traffic.”
Te simple fact is that if we achieve
our goals of expanding our trade flows, we need the systems and infrastructure to carry the increased traffic. Our con- tinued collaboration with the Depart- ment of Transportation highlights our focus on bringing all resources to bear on an all-of-government approach to improving trade performance. Another tool at our disposal is our
new SelectUSA program, to spur invest- ment in US facilities and companies and create more jobs for American workers. But we cannot fully succeed in these
efforts—and America’s supply chains cannot take full advantage of these emerging opportunities, at home and abroad—if we do not also act to remove the freight infrastructure and other policy impediments that slow the flow of America’s trade and commerce.
Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services International Trade Administration Washington, DC
It is a central fact of modern, ad-
vanced manufacturing that the quality and reliability of the nation’s supply chain, and the quality of the underlying infrastructure, determine in part where companies invest and hire, where they chose to do business. Supply chains affect company financials and the firms’ ability to meet global pricing. We also face the near-term challenge,
through the MAP-21 programs being implemented right now, of contribut- ing supply-chain perspectives towards the creation of a national freight policy and strategy that takes into account the international trade and competitiveness issues important to the economy. Tis freight policy—its national
strategy and priorities and the choice and definition of performance mea- sures—is part of the efforts here and abroad to see and treat all of these sys- tems as integrated systems of systems, rather than silos organized around particular modes of transportation or industrial sectors with little thought for global strategic competitiveness. We need to remind ourselves that ev-
ery major trading country in the world is pursuing these issues in a strategic way. We must pay close attention to how our trade competitors are addressing these issues. Te efforts of Germany and the EU, Canada, and China to strategically improve these policies to boost their competitiveness should spur our own strategic thinking on these issues. ✈
Ms. Lamb-Hale first made these observa- tions in a speech to the Advisory Commit- tee on Supply Chain Competitiveness in Washington, DC on March 12, 2013.
Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing 2013 45
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