Biden takes action to shore up technologies important to national defense
Christian Datoc
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President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on Monday to surge the domestic production of certain technologies utilized by the Department of Defense.
The announcement comes as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign producers of national defense components.
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The president signed a waiver in February reducing some statutory requirements with the aim of allowing the Pentagon “to more aggressively build the resiliency of America’s industrial base and secure its supply chains.”
Biden wrote in a memo published by the government Monday morning that the administration had found that “action to expand the domestic production capability for printed circuit boards and advanced packaging is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.”
“Without Presidential action under section 303 of the Act, United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide the capability for the needed industrial resource, material, or critical technology item in a timely manner,” he continued. “Purchases, purchase commitments, or other action pursuant to section 303 of the Act are the most cost-effective, expedient, and practical alternative method for meeting the need.”
The memo also designated “the manufacturing systems that produce such systems and components” as “industrial resources, materials, or critical technology items essential to national defense.”
The White House did not immediately answer questions about whether the administration had already brokered contracts with domestic suppliers for the affected parts.
The president also signed a new executive order on Monday that will, for the first time, prohibit the federal government from using commercial spyware after upwards of 50 government employees around the globe were found to be compromised through the use of such tools.
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“The proliferation of commercial spyware poses distinct and growing counterintelligence and security risks to the United States, including to the safety and security of U.S. Government personnel and their families,” the White House said in a statement. “U.S. Government personnel overseas have been targeted by commercial spyware, and untrustworthy commercial vendors and tools can present significant risks to the security and integrity of U.S. Government information and information systems.”
White House officials did not say if the timing of Biden’s latest executive order also prompted the president’s invocation of the DPA.