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In a June 16 interview on Bloomberg Open Interest, Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi said the supply chain is already shifting, with more goods now being manufactured in the U.S.
Over the past five years, Flex has sourced 45% of its materials from North America—up from just 30%, which previously came from China and other parts of Asia, she said. “This means that a lot of manufacturing can happen in the region for the region,” Advaithi shared, adding, “If I look forward, I would say we will continue to see a very significant shift in those supply chains back to North America.”
She acknowledged that there are still “a few challenges” to locally sourcing key components, such as magnetics, batteries, and transformers.
When asked about the perception that rare earth processing is “too dangerous and too dirty” to be done in the U.S., Advaithi agreed, saying, “There’s a long way to go in terms of rhetoric.” Still, she pointed out that Latin America has “pretty significant availability” of rare earth metals and emphasized the importance of continuing to build partnerships with countries outside China.
Advaithi also expressed optimism about the potential for reshoring automated manufacturing to the U.S. While it may not create jobs at the same scale as overseas production once did, she believes it will still boost domestic employment. She noted that Flex recently announced a new 500,000-square-foot facility in Dallas focused on power infrastructure products for AI—“creating 500 jobs as we speak.”
