(NewsNation) — The United States is now on track to bring 350,000 overseas manufacturing jobs back to the states, according to a new report from the Reshoring Initiative. Supply chain issues caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are pushing many executives to bring their businesses closer to home.
The recent threat of conflict between Taiwan and China has also played a role in this new dynamic.
“The possibility of a Taiwan-China conflict and the threat of China decoupling are focusing those concerns,” the report read. “Destabilizing geopolitical and climate forces have brought to light our vulnerabilities and the need to address them.”
The U.S. held trade talks with Taiwan last week as a sign of support for the island nation’s democracy. The U.S. relies heavily on trade with Taiwan for chip technology as the country is the world’s biggest chip supplier.
For the third year in a row, the reshoring initiative has trended upward, setting a new record of jobs brought back to the U.S. The current 2022 projection of jobs has increased just under 100,000 additional jobs since 2021 when there were 260,000 jobs announced.
New factors have aided the upward trend, including social and ethical concerns in China, Walmart’s $350 Billion Made in America Initiative, lack of inventory and inflation hitting around the globe have all contributed to the trend.
But with new factors helping the reshoring initiative, there are forces likely to slow it down as well, including disrupted supply chains, continued workforce shortages and high inflation within the U.S.
Continuation of the trend upward depends on companies’ decision to bring back manufacturing to the country.