Navarro: 'Strategic National Stockpile 2.0' Is 'Smarter, Bigger, Stronger'

If anything has been learned from the coronavirus crisis, it is that the United States can no longer depend on other global supply chains for vital supplies, trade adviser Peter Navarro said Friday, while touting the creation of "Strategic National Stockpile 2.0" 

"Basically in the fight against that China virus enemy, we are going to need bigger stockpiles of personal protective equipment and medicine," said Navarro, who is in charge of coordinating supplies during the pandemic, on Fox Business' "Mornings With Maria." "The new stockpile concept is smarter in that we brought in a lot of new information technology, in order to assist in the management distribution of everything we need."

Navarro teased that the stockpile is being built up in President Donald Trump's "image," as it is "smarter, bigger, and stronger."

"It is a bigger stockpile in a smart way because not only we are going to add to the inventories of the FEMA warehouses in terms of quantity and diversity of what is in them," said Navarro, adding that distribution centers around the country will carry larger inventories that will add to the stockpile. 

"As we onshore our production, here in the United States, these companies are also going to maintain reserve capacity," Navarro said. 

Trump has already signed five "buy American" executive orders, so government agencies will buy their supplies from U.S. sources, Navarro added. 

Also on Friday, Navarro said the word is out from Trump about incentives to return manufacturing to the United States because "if you want to travel to the United States, you have to build in the United States."

His comments came on the heels of Friday's announcement from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of silicon chips and a major supplier for Apple, in which it announced plans to spend $12 billion on a factory in Arizona. 

"I love to see Apple 'orchards' springing up in Arizona," said Navarro. "Apple needs to bring home more of this supply chain and production as well. This is a great day for America with this outcome."

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