Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg acknowledges already fragile global supply chains have been dealt a twin blow from Western sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine and fresh lockdowns in China due to renewed COVID-19 outbreaks.
"Well, they are major curveballs for the economy and for the supply chain," Buttigieg told Yahoo Finance. "And this is exactly why we've been so focused on making our supply chains more resilient. We don't know what the next shot is going to be — a pandemic, a war, a climate-related extreme weather event, which is happening more and more frequently every passing year. But we shouldn't have to know what the threat is going to be to know that we've got to have more nimble supply chains to deal with any threat, to deal with any uncertainty."
On that score, the Biden administration revealed a new program on Tuesday designed to improve battered supply chains by bolstering data visibility among companies.
The initiative — led by Buttigieg and National Economic Council director Brian Deese — is formally called "Freight Logistics Optimization Works," or FLOW. The data-sharing initiative focuses on ensuring companies have insight into what and how cargo is being moved around the supply chain.
Some of the key private companies that have signed on early are Target, UPS and FedEx.
Despite the new initiative, it's unclear how supply chains will react in the coming days and weeks to fresh external pressures.
One of Apple's largest suppliers Foxconn has temporarily halted operations as the Chinese government looks to contain a new COVID-19 outbreak. It's unclear when operations will restart. If the shutdown persists, analysts warn, it could hurt the bottom line of Apple and others in the tech supply chain.
Meanwhile, corporate America has joined in protest of Moscow’s military attack on Ukraine, moving to sever business dealings with Russia or take a stand in support for Ukrainian refugees.
Companies halting operations in Russia range from jeans maker Levi's to computer giant HP.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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