The presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris comes at a time of rising geopolitical tensions on multiple fronts. In the 14th report of an in-depth series, we look at China’s rise in hi-tech manufacturing and the US’ efforts to contain it.
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After decades spent working around the clock to produce an almost unimaginable quantity of goods for global consumers, China’s factories have moved up the learning curve and begun assembling more complicated wares – and those in seats of power from Washington to Berlin have sat up and taken notice.
A seemingly endless stream of sleek electric vehicles (EVs) and other high-end tech, churned out at facilities operated by a growing contingent of sophisticated machines, has set off alarm bells in the West and prompted a raft of protectionist policies intended to reorient supply chains and bring manufacturing jobs back home.
With the US presidential race tightening, one thing remains clear regardless of the victor: China’s ascent to the bleeding edge of industrial production is not the distant possibility it once was.
Nevertheless, both major party nominees – former president Donald Trump of the Republicans and Vice-President Kamala Harris of the Democrats – are all but certain to escalate efforts to keep China’s rise in check.
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Their strategies – from punitive measures like tariffs and trade restrictions to positive inducements like domestic research funding – will flow from this principle, analysts said.
“The direction of travel is quite clear,” said Xu Tianchen, senior China economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit. “The tech war is only going to intensify, and the election result will matter tactically, not strategically.”