News / Western governments look to boost supply chain resilience with new laws

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Western governments are looking to increase supply chain resilience as efforts to pull away from over-reliance on China and to mitigate concerns of its ‘malign influence’ continue.

These noises have drawn the support of industry, with UK trade associations urging the government add a minister of logistics to the cabinet, while in the US, the formation of a Supply Chain Council has been followed by amendments to its shipping laws.

Cross-party support saw US lawmakers pass the Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act 2023 yesterday, by 393 to 24 votes, with China’s Shanghai Shipping Exchange (SSE) its major target.

Senate approval is still required, but there seems little sign that it will not pass into law. The bill’s sponsor, Dusty Johnson, singled out the act’s focus on both the SSE and Chinese logistics management platform Logink.

He said: “Our real focus is to make it harder for the Chinese Communist Party to be able to use the SSE or Logink to gather all this exquisite data about the world’s supply chains and shipping information and have it used against our country and others.”

Once approved, the new law would join a defence spending bill, which passed into law at the end of last year, in banning Logink.

Much of the concern surrounding the platform relates to claims it provides Chinese entities cheaper access to data on global trade, which reports suggest gives them an “unfair advantage on international market trends”.

Alongside the Logink ban, the act would also allow the US Federal Maritime Commission to investigate allegations that China’s government uses SSE to manipulate container markets.

The legislation would also consider private vessels operating in a non-market economy as “controlled carriers”, opening them up to greater scrutiny from the FMC, which is authorised to ensure carriers operate under market conditions.

The past 12 months have seen a significant push by Washington to mitigate apparent concerns over the malign influence of China in global supply chains.

In late November, the Biden administration launched the the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience, authorised to determine which industries are important for national security and to provide support for their domestic growth.

Meanwhile, addressing Logistics UK’s Supply Chain Resilience event this week, minister for industry and economic security Nusrat Ghani said UK logistics had proved to be “exceptionally innovative, dynamic, adaptable”, despite facing “unprecedented challenges in recent years”.

Ms Ghani added: “That’s why we launched the Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy, as we take action to make sure the UK is a truly safe and reliable place to do business.”

Taking this further, 11 UK trade associations, including the British Ports Association (BPA) and the Road Haulage Association (RHA), have co-signed a letter calling for the UK’s main political parties to ensure cabinets include a minister for logistics.

Noting that logistics generated some £163bn to the country’s economy, the letter said the industry was, nonetheless, struggling with a confluence of hurdles. RHA MD Richard Smith said: “Our industry is a key economic enabler and can drive growth with the right support from government. There are many challenges. improving infrastructure, skills gaps, planning rules, and on the decarbonisation journey.

“Appointing a minister dedicated to logistics would help cement collaboration between policymakers and our industry to unlock even more potential from UK plc.