As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, intensifying technological competition and geopolitical risks have resurfaced a decades-old question with renewed urgency: Should the United States rebuild its industrial base?
The United States imports about $3 trillion in manufactured goods each year. A meaningful share is tied to products that face at least one of three trade dependencies that expose imports to vulnerabilities: criticality to national security; concentration among a few suppliers; or sourced from geopolitically distant partners. One-quarter are exposed to at least two of those dependencies. Five percent, including computers, electronic products, and key materials like rare-earth magnets, are exposed to all three.
