Late on October 17, 2020, the Deere commodity team for bearings consisting of Mickey Laferty, Moline, Illinois based International Supply Base Manager for Deere & Company, Mark Linear, Strategic Sourcing Manager for Deere Power Systems and Gerry Dately, Purchasing Director for the Engine Group were looking at inspection reports on a test run of bearings from a proposed Russian supplier. They knew there was resentment and some strong resistance against using Russian parts. They also knew that he had to find ways to cut supply costs. They wondered what the next step should be