A Geely manufacturing plant in Hangzhou, China. Carmakers and other exporters in traditional manufacturing powerhouses like Germany, Japan and South Korea are losing customers to Chinese rivals.
Two decades of sustained effort to build national self-reliance and minimize imports have antagonized trade partners but fortified what a senior adviser called Beijing’s “bulwark” against conflicts.
China has suspended export controls announced this month, but was conspicuously silent about rules imposed earlier, which are snarling global supply chains.
Concern is increasing throughout Southeast Asia as U.S. officials, intent on slowing China, have yet to say how they will define the origin country of imports.
Australia’s got reserves and mining expertise, and the United States is eager to invest in alternatives to China. But building mines, refineries and factories could take years.
In Washington, China hawks say its economy is too weak to withstand a tariff shock. In the city of Yiwu, factories are showing why, for now, that may be a miscalculation.