Trend Washington moves from de-risking to strategic decoupling from China

Summary

Under Biden, Washington sought to de-risk its exposure to China, but the second Trump administration is pursuing strategic decoupling in economic and technology fields. Treasury Secretary Bessent has said the US wants to avoid a generalised break with China while still pressing ahead with decoupling in strategic areas. The report expects that deep interdependence and the enormous cost of a full split will prevent across-the-board separation. Instead, selective separation is likely to concentrate on security-sensitive fields such as semiconductors, AI, 5G and quantum technology. In quantum technology, for instance, US export and investment controls and China's push for a self-contained ecosystem are already making separation visible.