In 2021, the uncertain and unpredictable state of global trade will continue to be a challenge. The US must regain its competitive footing: The strength of America’s economy — and its ultimate recovery — is reliant on our strength as a trading nation.
Revitalizing US exports should be a focus. Tariffs and the global pandemic exacerbated existing vulnerabilities in the US supply chain and the nation’s freight infrastructure. Containers, chassis, and other equipment have not always been available when and where America’s leading exporters, namely agriculture and manufacturing, needed them. The US–China trade war and COVID-19 compounded these deficiencies, and American businesses and consumers nationwide paid dearly. We must help these sectors rebuild their overseas markets so they can rebound and grow. Doing so strengthens America’s overall competitiveness and resiliency, creates American jobs, and has a positive impact on people and industries around the globe.
The results of the US election bode well for the US to recalibrate its approach to trade policy, and we should not miss the opportunity to couple trade policy with development of a cohesive national freight infrastructure plan that supports US competitiveness as well as climate change. As we do, we must look at goods movement planning and investment through the lens of US farmers, factories, and other producers of exported goods.
Strong infrastructure also includes digitalization of the supply chain. Supply chain visibility and execution, supported by big data, is fundamental to the resiliency of critical supply chains, such as securing personal protective equipment and vaccine distribution. COVID-19 will remain a wild card, but we forge ahead with the lessons of 2020 under our belt into the dawn of a more coordinated strategy for tackling the virus.