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President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at strengthening American defense supply chains by pushing defense contractors to get their critical materials from the homeland rather than relying on foreign countries.
According to the White House, the order focuses on three main areas: a tighter leash on granting waivers for contractors seeking to purchase critical materials from designated nations, facilitating the Department of War’s authority to “initiate regulatory action requiring more comprehensive supply chain mapping,” and encouraging defense contractors to qualify for “new domestic sources of critical minerals, materials, and components” by cutting regulatory red tape.
According to Reuters, companies that are seeking waivers to purchase materials from foreign countries, for example, “will need to prove they searched for alternatives, explain where their materials come from and lay out a plan to move away from prohibited suppliers.”
This executive action comes amid the U.S. war with Iran, which began in late February. The war was reignited over the past couple of weeks following the breakdown of a tenuous ceasefire agreement. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. munitions stockpile has been significantly chiseled down amid the ongoing U.S. strikes – and could take years to replenish.
The cost of war has been high. This past weekend, at least three U.S. servicemembers were killed in action related to Iranian strikes in some form.
According to the U.S. Central Command, U.S. military forces completed their ninth consecutive night of attacks against Iran, as it seeks to secure the Strait of Hormuz. As of late Monday afternoon, CENTCOM reported that it had begun yet another wave of attacks on the regime.
“The strikes are designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM stated.