Towards Secure, Sustainable, and Values-Based Supply Chains: A Transatlantic Conversation

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed structural deficiencies in global supply chains when the United States, the European Union, and many other countries experienced a sudden lack of access to critical medical goods. At the same time, as the widespread semiconductor chip shortage has revealed, deepening geo-technological competition is straining global manufacturing supply chains. Additionally, allegations of forced labor and the increased visibility of climate change worldwide is driving consumers and governments on both sides of the Atlantic to consider whether there needs to be a new balance between efficiency and economic integration vs. promoting shared values and security goals.

Among other issues, transatlantic cooperation on supply chains could focus on ensuring access to goods related to public health; enforcing human rights, including banning forced labor; promoting climate-friendly inputs in production processes; and identifying mechanisms to deal with trade in goods that affect U.S. and European security, such as sensitive technology manufactured in China.

This video is a recording of the event “Towards Secure, Sustainable, and Values-Based Supply Chains: A Transatlantic Conversation” on March 18, 2021. The event is supported by and presented in partnership with the Heinrich Boell Foundation Washington, DC.