Friendshoring
In news – In her recent visit to India, the US secretary of treasury reiterated her country’s stance of pushing for “friendshoring” to diversify away from countries that present geopolitical risk. What is friendshoring? Friendshoring is a strategy where a country sources the raw materials, components and even manufactured goods from countries that share its values . The dependence on the countries considered a “threat” to the stability of the supply chains is slowly reduced. It is also called “allyshoring”. The term, a cousin of “reshoring” and “onshoring” and a sibling to “nearshoring,” is shorthand for the practice of relocating supply chains to countries where the risk of disruption from political chaos is low. In the current case, US secretary of treasury said that Russia has long presented itself as a reliable energy partner, but in the Ukraine war, Vladimir Putin has weaponised the gas “against the people of Europe”. Some experts believe that friendshoring may push the world towards a more isolated place for trade and reverse the gains of globalisation. It is a part of the “deglobalisation” process.
