President Joe Biden will issue an executive order requiring the government to review critical supply chains, in an effort to ensure that the US is not too reliant on other countries, including China, for technology and materials.

Three people familiar with the order, including one senior US official, said it would demand that government agencies make a broad examination of US supply chains. It would require them to examine procurement, in addition to critical technologies and materials in private-sector supply chains.

The move follows a pledge Mr Biden made during the presidential race to address both the vulnerabilities in US medical-related supply chains that were exposed by the coronavirus pandemic as well as a wide range of technologies and materials used in manufacturing that are important for the US industrial base, including for military purposes.