Steel Mills
October 6, 2020
Burritt: Covid-19 Exposed our “Achilles’ Heel”
Written by Sandy Williams
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the United States’ awareness of its economic and security risks, said U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt, in an op-ed published by Fox Business. “Key among these risks: the hidden cost of our country’s high dependence on the global supply chain.”
As the coronavirus took hold globally, critical supplies were cut off to the U.S. including personal protective equipment that put the health community and the patients they treat at risk. “That’s because much of the global PPE supply chain was sourced from factories in China and the massive increase in global demand created shortages that we could not control,” said Burritt. “The pandemic exposed our ‘Achilles’ Heel’ when we were confronted by disruptions to overseas manufacturing and shipping of high-demand goods.
