Trend China's economic coercion toolkit matures and its retaliation becomes swifter

Summary

Over roughly six years of open conflict, China has greatly expanded coercive tools rooted in its weight in global supply chains, and the report judges that these economic weapons have entered a mature stage. The toolkit spans the unreliable entity list, blocking rules, the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, the tariff law, cybersecurity and antitrust reviews, and export control lists. One lesson Beijing drew from the first trade war was the need to find an opponent's weak points and develop the means to strike back. Some in China also believe that a mild response during the first Trump-era trade war emboldened Washington, which helps explain why retaliation is now quicker and broader. Export controls on rare earths and other critical minerals are identified as the most effective lever against the US.