Calling time on ‘just in time’

Mace | 2nd March 2022 | Politics
age-barros-rBPOfVqROzY-unsplash

Biden’s executive order to reshape the supply chain might foster improved transatlantic trade relations with the European Union

As the US administration seeks to implement its ambitious infrastructure plans, it will need advanced machinery and industrial goods. Some stakeholders in the industry think this is the time to reshape the global supply chain. In July 2021, President Biden signed an executive order with a view to reducing the US’s reliance on Asia. The order reshapes the supply chain, benefiting the EU-US trade partnership. It presents a significant opportunity for European companies to sell their innovative goods and services.  As the fallout from the pandemic showed, extended supply chains create critical weaknesses, which buckle under pressure. Production problems and port shutdowns led to containers being stranded at one end of the trade lane. This caused major delays just as the economy was beginning to reopen. The Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal and caused enormous losses. The impact of the interruption was compounded by logistics that are often organised around the principle of “just in time”. Lucio Miranda, founder and president of the US consultancy firm Export USA has been in the business for over 25 years. He argues that fundamental features of the supply chain require serious attention and rethinking. “We have always analysed the supply chain in the context of importing goods into a country. We tend to overlook another important challenge: How the supply chain affects companies exporting goods overseas.” He cites the case of US farmers who are facing major obstacles in delivering their products to other countries. “There is a shortage of containers available for shipping, heavy delays in shipments, and it is becoming virtually impossible to book slots to ship products to certain destinations,” he says.  “Shipping companies are sending empty containers back to China, refilling them, and turning them back to the US. So it’s the shipping companies which are profiting from the sea freight - the cost of which has increased 5 times. This puts the farmers - who are under contract - at huge commercial risk”.   Export USA is a New York based firm which supports EU companies selling and investing in the US. It has warehouses in Ohio and two European offices in Brussels and Rimini, Italy. Lucio Miranda, it’s founder and president, is proactive in seeking to engage with other stakeholders to promote his insights into the current problems afflicting the sector. He does this through his position of Italian representative to the Italian American Chamber of Commerce, in New York.  In addition to regular engagement, Export USA organises numerous events fostering constructive debate. The main objective of their initiatives is to share views and knowledge about recent international developments that are pointing to the need for a modernised, sustainable, secure and redefined global supply chain. ...

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.

Racing the sunset: a pilgrim odyssey across a dying Europe

Mace | August 4, 2026

For 10 months, ex-army officer James Jeffrey trekked 3500 km across Europe by foot. The scale of migration he witnessed may not have been as dramatic as the

Leader in Public Affairs: Grace Pritchard, Downing Street Director of News and the Prime Minister’s Political Spokesperson

Mace | August 3, 2026

After heading the Makerfield by-election comms team, Grace Pritchard was singled out by Andy Burnham as being a key part of his northern campaign team. The self-styled 'Yorkshire

Dame Antonia’s key civil service reforms are ready to be supported by Whitehall, says Jonathan Freeman

Mace | August 1, 2026

The Civil Service is ready to support Dame Antonia Romeo's flagship changes to government machinery - notably relating to AI and devolution - under new prime minister Andy

Burnham is trying to fix Whitehall, but will the political machinery change?

Mace | July 30, 2026

Andy Burnham is shaking up government with more changes than by any incoming prime minister in memory. But, asks Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, does he understand why the

Kemi’s true blue purge, with help from Sir Philip May

William Cash | July 26, 2026

The news that former Home Secretary Sir Grant Shapps has failed to make the new Tory candidate list has put fear into dozens of former Conservative MPs. Whether

If Burnham wants growth, he must start by backing AI and Tech founders and risk-takers, says Liam Houghton

Mace | July 23, 2026

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has an opportunity to make Britain the best place to start and scale a business, argues CEO Liam Houghton.

The continuing political Whydunnit of the murder of Ann Widdecombe

Mace Magazine | July 23, 2026

The strangely guilty way that the media, and some politicians have reacted to Widdecombe’s shocking death shows the double standards that can operate when a politician of the

The King of the North Takes Downing Street: Burnham’s Great Purge

Mace Magazine | July 21, 2026

The ruthlessness of Andy Burnham’s purge has taken the country back to Macmillan's Night of the Long Knives. Media reaction has been predictably partisan, with the choice of

Reform’s international policy: Farage looking to balance ideals with new foreign policy advisor

Jonathan Singh | July 16, 2026

To date, Reform is yet to appoint a foreign affairs spokesperson. Jonathan Singh looks at Reform's new approach to international affairs with the appointment of Dr Alan Mendoza

Ann Widdecombe Devon hamlet murder mystery continues as tributes make her a political saint

William Cash | July 16, 2026

The death of Ann Widdecombe raises serious questions about the security of high-profile politicians. The shocking episode seems out of Midsomer Murders with the former Tory minister being turned into