The Great Uncoupling Begins
Finally, the penny seems to have dropped. The idea that global supply chains should be built purely on cost efficiency has been tossed out the window, replaced by a frantic scramble for something called ‘resilience’. It’s a corporate buzzword, I know, but in this case, it means not being entirely at the mercy of a single, strategic competitor. The US is throwing money at the problem with things like the Inflation Reduction Act, and the EU has its own list of ‘critical raw materials’ it’s desperate to source elsewhere. This isn’t a temporary tantrum driven by trade tariffs. To me, this looks like a fundamental, multi-decade strategic pivot. The world is being rewired, and the new circuits are being designed to bypass China wherever possible.