Supply Chains Become New Battleground in Trade War

“A key lesson from the latest skirmish in the U.S.-China trade war: The era of weaponized supply chains has arrived,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Earlier this week, Washington and Beijing ended a standoff involving the most potent new tool in superpower statecraft—export controls. As part of a monthslong trade fight, the two sides choked off the supply of such exports as rare earths or semiconductor technology in a bid to gain an edge.”

“So when Chinese and American negotiators finally met in London to discuss a truce, the talk focused far more on dialing back supply-chain curbs than they did on tariffs, market access and other standard trade-negotiation topics.”