The Geo-Economic Fulcrum: US–China Decoupling and the Use of Export Controls on Semiconductors and Rare Earths

This chapter explores the role of export controls in the ongoing US–China decoupling. Export controls are primarily security-driven trade measures that have significantly affected global supply chains in the advanced technologies sector. The chapter highlights the distinction between traditional export restrictions (governed under WTO law) and export controls that are usually based on national security imperatives. The chapter also examines China’s export controls on rare earth elements (REEs) and traces its genesis in response to US semiconductors and technology export controls on China. The chapter unpacks the US diversification strategy in REEs. The chapter argues that US–China decoupling will act as the geo-economic fulcrum that will lead to parallel supply-chains emerging around diverse regulatory regimes. The decoupling and increasing use of export controls in a security-driven environment will have enduring consequences in international trade and future technological competition.