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22 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 strategy in place in the U.S. to ramp up pro- duction to compensate. That led to a tragic but inevitable result: healthcare professionals scrambling and often competing with one an- other for life-saving ventilators. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has made clear that our dependency on over- seas manufacturing can mean life or death. It also exposes how quickly current supply chains can become disconnected and in per- il. Needing to travel across the world to ramp up production of any critical item is a lesson we should avoid repeating. Since the 1990s, electronics have become the heart of thousands of products and hundreds of industries worldwide, with healthcare prominent among them. Much of the electron- ics manufacturing sector has taken advantage of economic integration across North America to maintain and grow across all three coun- tries. The total value of U.S. electronics trade with Canada and Mexico has increased six- fold over the last 25 years, reaching $155.5 billion in 2017. It helps support 5.3 million jobs across the United States, as well as mil- lions more in Mexico and Canada. Electronics and products containing them constitute a sig- nificant portion of trade flow among the three countries and must be protected. Not only is this sector vital for the function- ing of our economy, but it is one of a few con- tinuing to hire workers amid the overall shut- down. Electronics manufacturers added nearly 2,000 U.S. jobs in March 2020 and over 20,000 U.S. jobs in the last year. In anticipation of future pandemics or even an expected COVID-19 reemergence later this year [2] , we encourage the Trump administration to support a sustained and bold policy agenda to combat the virus and overcome the econom- ic downturn. President Trump should work with our neighbors in Canada and Mexi- co to build a more resilient and robust supply chain. Now, as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is being implemented, is the right time to start a North American Man- ufacturing Initiative to focus on coordinating pandemic response and strengthening the re- gion's manufacturing competitiveness. President Trump, along with his North Amer- ican counterparts, should grow regional ca- pacity for electronics manufacturing and cre- ate systems to monitor capacity in times of crisis. Additionally, they should set up met- rics for industrial base resiliency with capa- bilities, capacity, and geographic diversity as key factors. Finally, government leaders should determine a regional definition of what is an "essential activity," which would more easily allow us to support the critical produc- tion of crucial materials, parts, or products. Importantly, all of this should be centered on the manufacturing of electronics and other es- sential equipment. This region has an opportunity to think big- ger and build stronger, more efficient, and resil- ient manufacturing supply chains across North America. Anyone serious about strengthening manufacturing in any one of the three coun- tries needs to focus on advancing that goal in all three countries. This same lesson is one that all regions of the world should internalize and address. PCB007 References 1. Society of Critical Care Medicine, "United States Re- source Availability for COVID-19," May 12, 2020. 2. S. Gorman, "CDC chief warns second COVID-19 wave may be worse, arriving with flu season," Reuters, April 21, 2020. Dr. John Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC. To read past columns or contact him, click here. Needing to travel across the world to ramp up production of any critical item is a lesson we should avoid repeating.