U.S. vice president warns against relying on 'brittle,' 'adversarial' countries for supply chains

U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned Thursday against relying on "brittle" and "adversarial" countries for supply chains, while holding out the prospect of rewards for companies that invest in and build plants in the United States.

Vance made the remarks during an event marking the launch of the Foundry School, a work force development initiative, in Washington, as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is doubling down on a push to attract foreign investment and rebuild American manufacturing amid an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry.

"We also are willing, as the president has shown, to use the carrot to say to other countries and even to our own companies, that to the extent that you invest in the United States of America, to the extent that you build in the United States of America, you will be rewarded and you will find a partner in the American government," he said.

"But to the extent that you're trying to ship American jobs overseas, to the extent that you were relying on brittle and frankly adversarial countries for our supply chains, then you are not going to be rewarded by government policy and you're not going to find a friend in the president of the United States or anybody else," he added.

The vice president stressed that "industrial security" is national security.

"We have learned over the past five, the past six, frankly, the past 20 or 30 years, that if America doesn't have enough self-sufficiency in industry and manufacturing, our enemies are able to exploit it, and it makes our country much weaker," he said.

The Foundry School is part of the "Pax Silica" initiative for supply chain cooperation on artificial intelligence, critical minerals and other areas. The initiative includes Korea, Japan and other U.S. allies and partners.

Yonhap