Major Changes Expected in Supply Chain Regulations

All businesses are global businesses. This fact was made clear during COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, few C-level executives paid much attention to the details of supply chain management. Then COVID-19 raised the profile of supply chains, and suddenly everyone had to take notice.

CEOs are not the only ones taking notice; the federal government has, too, and is currently taking actions in ways that will affect corporate business planning, compliance obligations, pricing, and even long-term viability. More than I have ever observed in my 30 years of practicing trade law in Washington, D.C., there is tremendous bipartisan congressional interest in managing where companies get their products from and to whom they sell them. National security issues are taking priority over everything else, including corporate lobbying power. Where in 2022 there appeared some evidence that growing national security concerns could impact supply chains, in 2023 it is clear that global businesses need to be ready for much more.