After signing the foreign aid law on April 24, President Joe Biden Jr. explained that, while the United States would be sending military equipment to Ukraine from its own stockpiles, it would “replenish those stockpiles with new products made by American companies here in America: Patriot missiles made in Arizona, Javelins made in Alabama, artillery shells made in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In other words, we’re helping Ukraine while at the same time investing in our own industrial base, strengthening our own national security, and supporting jobs in nearly 40 states all across America.”
Biden’s efforts to pass the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act were all aimed at restoring the country’s ability to produce what it needs to survive and prosper. The supply chain crisis during the pandemic made it clear that relying on other countries for many of the critical components modern living requires was a mistake. At one time, we were the top industrial producers, but China now holds that position. In fact, as Noah Smith notes, China now produces more than the US and Europe combined. He says we need to start by rebuilding our defense-industrial base.
“The U.S. is now basically incapable of making large numbers of naval vessels, missiles, or artillery shells, and we haven’t yet developed the ability to make large numbers of drones (which are becoming increasingly central to modern warfare),” Smith says. To do that, he says that Congress should change the two-step defense spending process “so that funding can be reliably disbursed year after year without the need for regular, repeated discretionary Congressional action.” Just as important, he says, there should be the ability to make multiyear procurement decisions, so businesses will be able to make the necessary investments and know that they will be paid.
There has been a lot of discussion about the National Environment Policy Act and other rules that prolong the current review process that presents barriers to projects like factory construction. We do not want to become an environmental wasteland like much of China is, but the process should be scaled back so important projects can go forward. That is true for defense manufacturing, but also civilian manufacturing. Having a strong manufacturing capability allowed the nation to ramp up military production during World War II, and Smith says we need to restore that capability so we are prepared in the event of a war with China.
Noah Smith is a bit more hawkish than I, calling for massive increases in defense spending, but he paints a convincing picture of the current economic disparity between China and the United States and argues that, as long as that disparity exists, it increases the risk of military conflict between the nations. Having a strong manufacturing capability would allow us to move into war production if necessary, but meanwhile, as we learned from space flight, the engineering that goes into advanced systems leads to innovations that are valuable to civilians as well.
President Biden seems to understand that. He speaks of improving life for Americans, but he also is making decisions that will restore American might — for deterrence or for conflict.