National Insecurity: America’s Continuing Reliance on Critical Chinese Materials
The PRC persists in controlling key chokepoints -- rendering us reliant on our chief foe for the necessities of life
National Insecurity: America’s Continuing Reliance on Critical Chinese Materials
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 – with face masks, gloves, and other basic protections in high demand – Chinese leaders threatened to plunge America into the “mighty sea of coronavirus” by withholding essential medical supplies in retaliation for measures such as the U.S. travel ban on visitors from China.
The threat, issued through a Chinese Communist Party organ, brought into stark relief China’s strategy to subdue would-be foes by rendering them reliant on its exports for life’s necessities – prompting a pledge from U.S. policymakers to address supply chain issues that made the country vulnerable to a hostile power.
Six years later, despite a raft of initiatives – including tariffs, made-in-America requirements, and the makings of a responsive U.S. industrial policy embraced by the Biden and Trump administrations – America’s effort to reduce dependence on China in pivotal sectors has been slow and faces a slew of challenges.
Headlines heralding the decline in U.S. imports from China to levels not seen since the depths of the pandemic mask the fact that America’s chief rival continues to control chokepoints in supply chains that provide urgent military assets, key technologies, and important medicines.
I’ve got the story in a new report at RealClearInvestigations.