by Ben Whedon
President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order aimed at securing defense supply chains in the U.S. amid the ongoing Iran war and concerns about supply shortfalls.
The order directs the Pentagon to clamp down on the use of critical materials from adversarial nations in military procurement, though it explicitly permits the secretary of war to continue issuing waivers for such practices. It also requires defense contractors to map their supply chains and to show the sources of key materials.
Trump’s move appears aimed toward bringing arms production stateside and limiting any military reliance on imports from potentially non-cooperative nations.
It comes, however, at a time when American supplies and production capabilities appear below the necessary outputs to sustain a protracted conflict.
Trump previously invoked the Defense Production Act to pressure contractors to ramp up munitions production. Earlier this month, analysis from the Washington Post estimated that the U.S. had used as much as 40% of its air defense supplies in the first six weeks of active conflict with Iran. It also found that Washington had used 30% of its attack munitions.
On Monday, as tensions between America and Iran escalated, gas prices in America increased.
The average gas price in America is over $4, according to the AAA.
The current average gas price is 5 cents higher than it was a month ago.
California has the nation’s highest average gas price at $5.50. This ranks above Hawaii and Washington, whose average gas prices are $5.42 and $5.0, respectively.
Indiana has America’s lowest average gas price of $3.35.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
