In recent years, Americans have borne the economic brunt of global supply chain instability. During the pandemic, the supply of essential goods was uncertain as prices skyrocketed; tariffs and associated ambiguity have more recently forced supply chains to adapt; and leverage over supply chains has frequently been wielded as a weapon of war, as in Russia’s energy war against Europe, Iran’s Hormuz pressure campaign, and Taiwan’s “silicon shield” against a potential invasion. Enhancing American supply chain independence, particularly for goods needed by critical industries, is therefore an economic imperative—and must be treated as such by leaders across sectors.

Some supply chains—such as those involved in the production of semiconductors—are profoundly complex and therefore less prone to straightforward solutions for enhancing resiliency. Yet for certain critical industries that touch the lives of nearly every American, such as homebuilding, the path to more resilient supply chains is much clearer. It simply requires rethinking certain fundamental assumptions about what we build with.

Plywood and OSB, both heavily dependent on the lumber supply chain, are key elements of many Americans’ most important possessions: homes. Homeownership has traditionally been the pathway to wealth-building for Americans and part and parcel of the American Dream. Yet the pandemic underlined the fragility of that dream for too many. Supply chain constraints and an overreliance on foreign suppliers led to a 300% spike in the price of lumber, which translated to $14,345 more to build a single-family home and up to $36,000 added to the final price tag of a new build during the peak in spring of 2021.

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