AUSTIN, Texas — By now, we've all heard about – and likely dealt with – supply chain shortages. And, according to Poynter, a new wave of interruptions could be unfolding this week.
Citing CNN, Poynter reported that China has a strict zero-COVID-19 policy that responds to new COVID-19 cases. It includes lockdowns of millions of people and factory shutdowns, among other things.
In response to growing case numbers, China's government is reportedly forbidding 24 million people living in the province of Jilin from leaving. Poynter reports that the lockdown will also apply to Shenzhen (17.5 million people) and Dongguan (10 million people). In all, 54 million people in China will be in lockdowns by the middle of this week.
Poynter said that the lockdowns will stop the production of "everything from Toyota cars to Apple iPhones."
But other news platforms are pointing out that the delays from suppliers overseas are benefiting some U.S. manufacturers. Fox Business reported that some American factories are calling production back to the U.S.
Poynter said the word that is catching on is "reshoring," which means bringing foreign jobs back to the U.S. to avoid shipping interruptions. Data from a group called the Reshoring Initiative shows that an estimated 220,000 jobs were projected to come back to the U.S. last year.
Some of those jobs were here in Central Texas. The Reshoring Initiative has a list of hundreds of companies that moved jobs from abroad, through either reshoring or foreign direct investment (FDI) job announcements. The list was last updated in January 2021 and includes:
- Access Dental Lab (Kyle, reshoring)
- American Canning - 2021 (Austin, reshoring)
- American Canning - 2022 (Austin, reshoring)
- Apple - Reshoring (Austin, reshoring)
- Apple - TX (Austin, reshoring)
- Apple Inc. (Austin, reshoring)
- Armbrust American (Austin, reshoring)
- Austin Manufacturing Systems (Austin, reshoring)
- BAE Systems - TX (Austin, FDI)
- Cangshan Cutlery (Leander, reshoring)
- Chanel (Austin, FDI)
- CKD Corporation (Austin, FDI)
- Ebsy Apparel (Austin, reshoring)
- ENF Technology (Kyle, FDI)
- Esby (Austin, reshoring)
- Evonik (Austin, FDI)
- Flextronics (Apple) (Austin, reshoring)
- Gold Rush Vinyl (Austin, reshoring)
- Helm Boots (Austin, reshoring)
- HEVO (Austin, reshoring)
- Microdyn-Nadir (Austin, FDI)
- Music Computing (Austin, KFO)
- NXP Semiconductors NV - TX (Austin, reshoring)
- Open Arms Studio (Austin, reshoring)
- REE Automotive Ltd. (Austin, FDI)
- Samsung - TX - 2013 (Austin, FDI)
- Samsung - TX -2016 (Austin, FDI)
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Austin, reshoring)
- Stitch Texas (Austin, reshoring)
- Tesla Motors - TX - semiconductor - 2021 (Austin, reshoring)
- Yeti Holdings Inc. (Austin, reshoring)
To learn more, read Poynter's report.
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