Over the past 30 years, the United States has become overly reliant on foreign manufacturers for supplies and parts that are critical to our national defense, making us vulnerable and impacting our ability to respond to growing global threats and catastrophes.

According to a recent report, Remaking American Security: Supply Chain Vulnerabilities & National Security Risks Across the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, 68% of the fasteners used on American military equipment are sourced from Taiwan, Japan, and China, the semiconductors and computer chips used in our military’s electronics are made in Taiwan, and U.S. military radio batteries are made in Japan. These are just a tiny fraction of the parts from foreign suppliers.

How did the United States become so reliant on foreign resources for our national defense?

Cost is the main factor. The U.S. government is subject to many of the same forces that drive cost-reducing measures at American companies, resulting in greater procurement from countries with reduced labor costs. However, these cheaper products are lower quality and less reliable, posing a security threat when you’re counting on a part to work in the middle of a mission. Of equal concern is how products from foreign suppliers become obsolete, requiring equipment operators to replace rather than repair expensive machinery.

While we once had the world’s strongest industrial base, offshoring has nearly obliterated our manufacturing workforce. The U.S. Bureau of Labor reports that 63,000 factories have closed since 2001, and five million manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2001.

Policy changes also led to offshoring. Federal policies supporting a robust American shipbuilding industry were abandoned in the early 1980s. Since then, there have been virtually no U.S. flag ships built for international trade. There are fewer than 200 U.S.-registered vessels out of a global fleet of more than 44,000 vessels, and those ships transport less than 1% of the $1 trillion worth of cargo that flows to and from North America.

The loss of our commercial shipbuilding capabilities means the U.S. no longer has the manufacturing or supplier base necessary to build enough Navy vessels to remain competitive with its global peers. Congress and recent administrations have recognized this and are starting to take action, but more is needed to shore up our manufacturing and, by extension, our national defense capabilities.

Buy America and Buy America policies have been strengthened by the current Administration’s order to expand the existing domestic preference laws, which will gradually increase to 75% of the domestic content of end products procured by the government. The challenge is that these laws aren’t applicable to shipbuilding components and only apply to the end product, which is the ship. The provisions introduced in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act authored by Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin address this loophole by ensuring that suppliers are covered in Buy American and other Buy America reform requirements. Without this, we risk losing the fragile supplier base we have left.

Suppliers also need assurance from the U.S. military that competition will be fair. While there will always be some foreign competitors for defense contracts, they should have the same level of commitment as the domestic manufacturers and service providers. They should also be subject to the same specifications, without exception.

Taking the steps necessary to strengthen America’s manufacturing base won’t be easy, but it will be a long-term investment that will benefit the private sector and the safety and security of our nation.

Fairbanks Morse Defense, which has a manufacturing facility in Beloit, manufactures ship engines and propulsion systems to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.

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